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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: rash · game · club · scale · row · cap · net · file

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. cap — of ice
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. file — a document
  7. game — wild animals
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. game — a match
  10. club — for golf
  11. club — a group
  12. cap — a lid
  13. net — for catching
  14. rash — a series
  15. cap — a hat
  16. rash — hasty
  17. net — in sport
  18. net — after costs
  19. scale — size or range
  20. club — for dancing
  21. row — a line
  22. row — to paddle
  23. scale — in music
  24. file — a line of people

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