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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: cold · squash · file · ground · ball · mine · game · safe

  1. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. cold — an illness
  3. ground — the earth
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. file — a line of people
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. file — a document
  8. file — a tool
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. ground — a position
  11. safe — a strongbox
  12. mine — for digging
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. game — a match
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. ground — crushed
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. cold — not warm
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. game — wild animals
  21. squash — the sport
  22. ball — a great time
  23. squash — to crush
  24. ball — a dance

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