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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: racket · pit · bat · chest · deal · hand · file · key

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. chest — of your body
  5. pit — in a race
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. hand — help
  8. hand — in cards
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. file — a document
  11. pit — a hole
  12. bat — the animal
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. file — a line of people
  16. chest — a box
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. key — for a lock
  19. deal — to handle
  20. key — in music
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. key — the most important part
  24. chest — of your body

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