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

Word bank: file · kick · race · chest · scale · nail

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. chest — of your body
  4. file — a tool
  5. file — a line of people
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. race — the arms race
  9. kick — in football
  10. file — a document
  11. scale — size or range
  12. chest — a box
  13. scale — in music
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. chest — of your body
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. race — a contest

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