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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.

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: wound · game · sharp · roll · plane · net · file · rash

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. wound — an injury
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. rash — hasty
  5. sharp — clever
  6. game — a match
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. file — a document
  13. file — a line of people
  14. roll — a list
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. net — after costs
  17. net — in sport
  18. game — wild animals
  19. plane — a tool
  20. wound — an injury
  21. roll — a cake
  22. rash — a series
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. file — a tool

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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