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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: rule · jam · object · game · cold · root · bat · file

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. file — a tool
  3. cold — an illness
  4. object — a thing
  5. cold — not warm
  6. rule — government
  7. root — of a plant
  8. file — a document
  9. object — an aim
  10. root — the cause
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. rule — a law
  13. root — of a word
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. object — to protest
  16. file — a line of people
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. bat — the animal
  19. jam — to spread on bread
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. game — a match

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