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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: roll · club · wound · march · cabinet · fall · content · file

  1. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. club — for dancing
  6. file — a line of people
  7. fall — to drop
  8. wound — an injury
  9. roll — a list
  10. roll — a cake
  11. file — a document
  12. club — a group
  13. wound — an injury
  14. file — a tool
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. fall — the season
  17. club — for golf
  18. march — the month
  19. march — the month
  20. fall — to drop
  21. content — the amount
  22. march — music
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. content — happy

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