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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: march · nail · bat · file · cabinet · kid · roll · row

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. march — music
  4. file — a line of people
  5. kid — child
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. bat — the animal
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. march — the month
  14. row — to paddle
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. roll — a list
  17. roll — a cake
  18. kid — to tease
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. file — a document
  22. file — a tool
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. row — a line

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