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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: scale · staff · mine · file · bat · saw · mug · court

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. mug — a face
  3. court — for sport
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. staff — employees
  6. mug — to rob
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. file — a document
  9. saw — the tool
  10. file — a line of people
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. file — a tool
  14. court — of law
  15. staff — employees
  16. court — of a king
  17. saw — the tool
  18. staff — a stick
  19. scale — in music
  20. mug — a cup
  21. bat — the animal
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. mine — for digging
  24. scale — size or range

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