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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · kid · saw · cabinet · hand · degree · nail · arm

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. kid — child
  3. degree — an amount
  4. saw — the tool
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. kid — to tease
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. file — a tool
  11. saw — the tool
  12. degree — from a university
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. file — a document
  15. degree — temperature
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. hand — help
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. hand — in cards
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. hand — part of the body

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