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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: scale · ground · game · mine · jam · fine · prune · file

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. mine — for digging
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. ground — the earth
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. game — a match
  7. fine — all right
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. game — wild animals
  10. ground — crushed
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. prune — to trim
  15. scale — size or range
  16. ground — a position
  17. prune — to trim
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. fine — high quality
  21. scale — in music
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. file — a tool
  24. file — a document

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