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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: roll · kid · mate · wound · game · tear · fine · file

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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. fine — high quality
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. roll — a list
  6. mate — a friend
  7. mate — a partner
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — an injury
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. tear — to rip
  12. kid — to tease
  13. fine — all right
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. mate — to breed
  16. kid — child
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — from crying
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. roll — a cake
  21. file — a line of people
  22. game — wild animals
  23. file — a document
  24. game — a match

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