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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: can · roll · game · spell · file · rash · cold · squash

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. rash — a series
  3. squash — the sport
  4. spell — a short time
  5. cold — not warm
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. squash — to crush
  8. game — a match
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. game — wild animals
  12. file — a tool
  13. file — a line of people
  14. can — to be able to
  15. cold — an illness
  16. roll — a list
  17. roll — a cake
  18. file — a document
  19. can — a tin
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. can — a tin
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. rash — hasty
  24. spell — magic

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