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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: file · last · game · track · snap · mark · bulb · row

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. snap — to click
  3. row — to paddle
  4. game — wild animals
  5. track — a song
  6. track — a path
  7. last — to go on
  8. game — a match
  9. track — to keep track
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. mark — a grade
  12. file — a line of people
  13. last — finally
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. bulb — for light
  17. last — final
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. mark — a trace
  20. bulb — for light
  21. file — a document
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. file — a tool
  24. row — a line

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