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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.

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: drill · degree · game · row · trunk · wound · bank · file

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. drill — army training
  3. file — a document
  4. degree — an amount
  5. drill — a practice
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. file — a tool
  8. file — a line of people
  9. bank — for money
  10. degree — from a university
  11. bank — of a river
  12. game — wild animals
  13. row — to paddle
  14. bank — for money
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. row — a line
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. degree — temperature
  19. wound — an injury
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. game — a match
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. wound — an injury
  24. drill — the tool

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