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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: bat · hand · mine · scale · fine · rash · cue · tear

  1. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — for pool
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. scale — in music
  4. rash — hasty
  5. mine — for digging
  6. fine — high quality
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. tear — from crying
  9. fine — all right
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. hand — in cards
  12. tear — from crying
  13. cue — a hint
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. rash — a series
  16. bat — the animal
  17. tear — to rip
  18. scale — size or range
  19. cue — a signal
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. hand — help
  24. bat — in an idiom

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