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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 120 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: mug · cue · hand · file · mine · bat · staff · mark

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. staff — employees
  3. mug — a face
  4. file — a line of people
  5. mark — a trace
  6. cue — a hint
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. mark — a grade
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. mug — a cup
  12. cue — for pool
  13. file — a tool
  14. staff — a stick
  15. staff — employees
  16. hand — in cards
  17. mine — for digging
  18. bat — the animal
  19. hand — help
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. file — a document
  23. cue — a signal
  24. mug — to rob

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