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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: racket · file · face · kid · content · game

  1. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. face — part of the head
  4. face — to point toward
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. game — a match
  7. kid — to tease
  8. file — a tool
  9. game — wild animals
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. file — a document
  12. file — a line of people
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. kid — child
  16. content — happy
  17. face — to confront
  18. content — the amount

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