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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: kid · pit · mate · spell · lie · cap · file · game

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. game — wild animals
  3. spell — a short time
  4. cap — of ice
  5. file — a line of people
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. mate — a friend
  8. lie — to recline
  9. mate — a partner
  10. kid — to tease
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. cap — a hat
  13. spell — magic
  14. cap — a lid
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. pit — a hole
  18. mate — to breed
  19. game — a match
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. pit — in a race
  22. kid — child
  23. spell — letters
  24. file — a document

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