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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: kick · game · mark · file · racket · court · clip · rash

  1. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. rash — hasty
  3. file — a line of people
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. file — a tool
  7. clip — a video
  8. game — wild animals
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. court — of law
  11. mark — a trace
  12. mark — a grade
  13. game — a match
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. rash — a series
  18. clip — for paper
  19. court — of a king
  20. file — a document
  21. kick — in football
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. court — for sport
  24. clip — to cut

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