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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 116 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: file · kick · game · prune · wound · cold · lie · cell

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. file — a line of people
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. wound — an injury
  5. cell — in biology
  6. file — a document
  7. prune — to trim
  8. cold — not warm
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. prune — to trim
  11. wound — an injury
  12. cold — an illness
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. game — wild animals
  15. lie — to recline
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. game — a match
  18. file — a tool
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. kick — in football
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. cell — a phone

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