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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: stem · kick · sharp · file · last · squash · game · rash

  1. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. game — wild animals
  3. file — a document
  4. last — finally
  5. rash — a series
  6. last — to go on
  7. squash — to crush
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. last — final
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. file — a tool
  12. stem — to come from
  13. kick — in football
  14. game — a match
  15. squash — the sport
  16. rash — hasty
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. file — a line of people
  23. sharp — clever
  24. game — a kind of play

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