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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: wound · rule · ground · club · current · file · roll · scale

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. scale — size or range
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. club — for dancing
  5. rule — a law
  6. ground — crushed
  7. wound — an injury
  8. ground — a position
  9. file — a line of people
  10. current — electric
  11. club — a group
  12. rule — government
  13. current — happening now
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. roll — a list
  16. ground — the earth
  17. club — for golf
  18. wound — an injury
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. file — a document
  21. roll — a cake
  22. scale — in music
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. current — of water

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