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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.

Make a worksheet

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: key · cold · scale · chest · date · file · land · mine

  1. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. land — a country
  3. key — the most important part
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — an illness
  7. key — in music
  8. file — a document
  9. cold — not warm
  10. land — ground
  11. chest — of your body
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. scale — size or range
  14. date — the fruit
  15. mine — for digging
  16. chest — of your body
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. file — a tool
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. key — for a lock
  21. chest — a box
  22. file — a line of people
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. land — to come down

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