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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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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: season · squash · file · race · kid · rest · ground · board

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  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. season — in sport
  2. squash — the sport
  3. kid — to tease
  4. file — a tool
  5. ground — crushed
  6. board — a committee
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. ground — a position
  9. rest — what's left
  10. ground — the earth
  11. race — humankind
  12. race — the arms race
  13. squash — to crush
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. rest — a break
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. rest — what's left
  18. race — a contest
  19. file — a document
  20. board — to get on
  21. kid — child
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. season — of the year
  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