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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: toast · file · rest · race · patient · bat

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. file — a tool
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. file — a line of people
  5. rest — what's left
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. toast — bread
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. race — humankind
  14. bat — the animal
  15. race — a contest
  16. race — the arms race
  17. file — a document
  18. rest — a break

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