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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. bat — the animal
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. staff — employees
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. hand — in cards
  7. file — a line of people
  8. file — a document
  9. mine — for digging
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. cap — a hat
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. file — a tool
  15. cap — of ice
  16. cap — a lid
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. staff — employees
  22. pound — a weight
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. staff — a stick

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com