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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 120 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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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: content · file · snap · cell · rock · tear · game · pitcher

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. cell — in biology
  5. content — happy
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. content — the amount
  9. file — a line of people
  10. tear — from crying
  11. snap — to click
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. rock — music
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. rock — a stone
  16. game — a match
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. tear — from crying
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. cell — a phone
  22. file — a document
  23. game — wild animals
  24. tear — to rip

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