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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: wound · scale · hand · fine · cue · spring · bat · saw

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. scale — size or range
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. cue — for pool
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. scale — in music
  9. fine — high quality
  10. saw — the tool
  11. saw — the tool
  12. cue — a hint
  13. fine — all right
  14. hand — help
  15. hand — in cards
  16. cue — a signal
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. spring — the season
  20. spring — a coil
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. wound — an injury
  23. spring — of water
  24. wound — an injury

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