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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 · rush · can · key · wound · bat · chest · chair

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. rush — hurry
  4. file — a line of people
  5. key — the most important part
  6. can — a tin
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. key — for a lock
  9. can — a tin
  10. can — to be able to
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chest — a box
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. key — in music
  17. bat — the animal
  18. file — a tool
  19. wound — an injury
  20. chest — of your body
  21. wound — an injury
  22. file — a document
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. chair — a leader

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