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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 120 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: racket · file · face · kid · content · game · staff · cold

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. file — a document
  3. file — a tool
  4. kid — to tease
  5. content — happy
  6. staff — employees
  7. content — the amount
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. file — a line of people
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. cold — an illness
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. face — to point toward
  16. staff — a stick
  17. face — to confront
  18. face — part of the head
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. cold — not warm
  21. game — a match
  22. game — wild animals
  23. kid — child
  24. staff — employees

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