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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: file · drill · bat · wound · racket · arm · cell · mine

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. cell — in biology
  9. file — a tool
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. cell — a phone
  14. wound — an injury
  15. file — a line of people
  16. file — a document
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. drill — a practice
  19. mine — for digging
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. drill — army training
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. bat — the animal

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