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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: board · scale · chest · saw · date · bowl · file · club

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  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. bowl — a dish
  2. club — for dancing
  3. chest — a box
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. club — a group
  6. saw — the tool
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. chest — of your body
  9. board — a committee
  10. chest — of your body
  11. file — a document
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. date — the fruit
  14. board — to get on
  15. file — a line of people
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. scale — in music
  18. saw — the tool
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. club — for golf
  21. file — a tool
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. scale — for weighing
  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