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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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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: bat · mine · file · deal · kid · key · cue · cap

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. cue — a signal
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. kid — child
  7. kid — to tease
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. key — the most important part
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. cap — of ice
  12. bat — the animal
  13. cue — a hint
  14. cap — a lid
  15. deal — to handle
  16. key — in music
  17. file — a tool
  18. cap — a hat
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. mine — for digging
  21. cue — for pool
  22. file — a document
  23. key — for a lock
  24. file — a line of people

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