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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: mine · rush · date · file · swing · roll · wound · game

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. swing — music
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. file — a line of people
  7. rush — hurry
  8. wound — an injury
  9. game — a match
  10. swing — in golf
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. roll — a list
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. file — a tool
  17. roll — a cake
  18. wound — an injury
  19. date — the fruit
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. game — wild animals
  22. file — a document
  23. swing — to play on
  24. mine — for digging

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