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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: face · board · cell · kid · wound · rash · game · file

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. face — to confront
  3. file — a document
  4. rash — a series
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. wound — an injury
  7. board — to get on
  8. board — a committee
  9. cell — in biology
  10. kid — to tease
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. game — wild animals
  14. face — part of the head
  15. face — to point toward
  16. game — a match
  17. file — a line of people
  18. wound — an injury
  19. file — a tool
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. kid — child
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. rash — hasty

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