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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 120 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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Word bank
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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: key · rush · kick · bat · fine · file

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. bat — the animal
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. key — the most important part
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. fine — high quality
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. key — for a lock
  13. file — a document
  14. file — a line of people
  15. kick — in football
  16. file — a tool
  17. key — in music
  18. rush — hurry

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