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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: game · race · file · fork · season · root · dip · mug

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. race — a contest
  4. game — a match
  5. dip — to sink
  6. fork — in a road
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. mug — a cup
  9. race — humankind
  10. season — in sport
  11. file — a document
  12. mug — a face
  13. file — a tool
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. mug — to rob
  17. file — a line of people
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. game — wild animals
  20. season — of the year
  21. root — of a word
  22. root — of a plant
  23. race — the arms race
  24. root — the cause

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