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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: plane · file · rest · game · row · cell · ground · squash

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. cell — in biology
  3. file — a tool
  4. ground — crushed
  5. rest — a break
  6. plane — a tool
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. rest — what's left
  11. rest — what's left
  12. file — a line of people
  13. row — a line
  14. game — wild animals
  15. file — a document
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. ground — a position
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. game — a match
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. ground — the earth
  22. squash — the sport
  23. cell — a phone
  24. row — to paddle

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