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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: key · scale · bat · swing · file · cell · wound · lean

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. cell — in biology
  3. lean — to bend
  4. wound — an injury
  5. file — a document
  6. key — in music
  7. bat — the animal
  8. key — for a lock
  9. swing — to play on
  10. swing — music
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. lean — thin
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. scale — size or range
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. swing — in golf
  18. scale — in music
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. file — a line of people
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. file — a tool
  23. wound — an injury
  24. cell — a phone

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