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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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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: key · race · patient · bat · cold · deal · file · bowl

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. race — the arms race
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. bat — the animal
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — not warm
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. key — the most important part
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. deal — to handle
  14. key — in music
  15. file — a document
  16. race — a contest
  17. key — for a lock
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. file — a line of people
  22. race — humankind
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. bowl — to roll

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