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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: file · scale · pit · hand · ball · march · calf · spring

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. spring — of water
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. ball — a great time
  5. file — a line of people
  6. march — the month
  7. pit — in a race
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. march — the month
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. scale — in music
  15. hand — help
  16. scale — size or range
  17. spring — a coil
  18. hand — in cards
  19. file — a document
  20. march — music
  21. ball — a dance
  22. pit — a hole
  23. file — a tool
  24. calf — of the leg

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