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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 116 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: nail · last · fork · game · ground · file · race · bat

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. file — a document
  4. last — finally
  5. last — to go on
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. ground — a position
  8. race — a contest
  9. ground — crushed
  10. bat — the animal
  11. last — final
  12. file — a line of people
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. race — humankind
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. game — a match
  19. game — wild animals
  20. fork — in a road
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. file — a tool
  23. ground — the earth
  24. race — the arms race

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