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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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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: game · current · wound · temple · file · pound

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. wound — an injury
  3. current — happening now
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. wound — an injury
  6. current — electric
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. current — of water
  10. file — a line of people
  11. file — a tool
  12. file — a document
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. pound — a weight
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. game — a match
  18. temple — side of the head

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