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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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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 · kick · race · chest · scale · nail · band · pitch

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. kick — in football
  3. scale — size or range
  4. band — a ring
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. chest — of your body
  7. race — a contest
  8. chest — of your body
  9. band — a music group
  10. file — a line of people
  11. file — a document
  12. pitch — completely
  13. race — the arms race
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. race — humankind
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. scale — in music
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. chest — a box

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