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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: band · file · game · kid · spring · key · scale · chair

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. file — a tool
  3. game — a match
  4. game — wild animals
  5. key — in music
  6. chair — a leader
  7. key — for a lock
  8. scale — size or range
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. spring — of water
  11. key — the most important part
  12. spring — a coil
  13. scale — in music
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. spring — the season
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. kid — to tease
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. file — a document
  21. file — a line of people
  22. band — a ring
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. band — a music group

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