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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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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: file · bat · mate · trunk · rest · cap · racket · rule

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. rule — a law
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. mate — to breed
  7. bat — the animal
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. cap — of ice
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. rest — what's left
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. rest — what's left
  15. file — a tool
  16. file — a line of people
  17. rule — government
  18. cap — a hat
  19. mate — a friend
  20. mate — a partner
  21. file — a document
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. cap — a lid
  24. rest — a break

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