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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: drill · cell · swing · chest · mate · scale · spring · file

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. chest — a box
  3. chest — of your body
  4. swing — to play on
  5. file — a tool
  6. spring — the season
  7. scale — in music
  8. drill — the tool
  9. chest — of your body
  10. mate — a partner
  11. scale — size or range
  12. cell — in biology
  13. swing — music
  14. drill — army training
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. file — a line of people
  17. mate — a friend
  18. spring — a coil
  19. spring — of water
  20. mate — to breed
  21. swing — in golf
  22. file — a document
  23. cell — a phone
  24. drill — a practice

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