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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: nail · club · last · file · drill · bat · scale · chair

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. file — a line of people
  3. file — a tool
  4. bat — the animal
  5. chair — a leader
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. last — to go on
  10. drill — a practice
  11. last — finally
  12. club — a group
  13. club — for golf
  14. drill — the tool
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. scale — in music
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. drill — army training
  22. file — a document
  23. scale — size or range
  24. club — for dancing

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