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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: chest · cue · spring · bat · file · ball · roll · deal

  1. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. spring — of water
  3. cue — a signal
  4. cue — for pool
  5. roll — a list
  6. file — a document
  7. chest — of your body
  8. ball — a dance
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. spring — a coil
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. deal — to handle
  15. ball — a great time
  16. file — a tool
  17. roll — a cake
  18. cue — a hint
  19. file — a line of people
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. chest — of your body
  22. chest — a box
  23. bat — the animal
  24. spring — the season

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