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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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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: rush · cell · ground · saw · bat · fall · scale · file

  1. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. fall — the season
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. fall — to drop
  5. file — a tool
  6. fall — to drop
  7. saw — the tool
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. saw — the tool
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. ground — crushed
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. file — a document
  14. scale — size or range
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. scale — in music
  17. cell — a phone
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. file — a line of people
  20. ground — the earth
  21. bat — the animal
  22. ground — a position
  23. cell — in biology
  24. 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