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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: cold · game · mate · patient · plane · bowl · file · club

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. game — a match
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. mate — a partner
  7. mate — to breed
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. file — a line of people
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. file — a document
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. club — a group
  16. game — wild animals
  17. mate — a friend
  18. plane — a tool
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. club — for dancing
  21. cold — an illness
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. file — a tool
  24. cold — not warm

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