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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: cell · file · game · band · wound · chest · mark · racket

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. game — wild animals
  5. wound — an injury
  6. game — a match
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. cell — in biology
  9. file — a document
  10. mark — a trace
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. file — a line of people
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. band — a music group
  15. file — a tool
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. chest — a box
  18. cell — a phone
  19. wound — an injury
  20. band — a ring
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. chest — of your body
  23. chest — of your body
  24. mark — a grade

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