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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: chest · content · season · game · file · race · cap · perch

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. file — a tool
  4. perch — the fish
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. content — the amount
  7. game — a match
  8. file — a line of people
  9. chest — of your body
  10. race — the arms race
  11. file — a document
  12. cap — a hat
  13. race — a contest
  14. season — in sport
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. game — wild animals
  17. cap — of ice
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chest — a box
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. season — of the year
  23. race — humankind
  24. cap — a lid

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