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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: row · mate · club · file · ground · cell

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. cell — a phone
  3. club — for dancing
  4. file — a document
  5. cell — in biology
  6. mate — a partner
  7. file — a line of people
  8. row — to paddle
  9. club — for golf
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. file — a tool
  12. ground — the earth
  13. ground — a position
  14. club — a group
  15. mate — a friend
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. mate — to breed
  18. row — a line

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