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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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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: ball · file · row · game · pound · sharp · hand · spring

  1. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. file — a tool
  3. spring — a coil
  4. hand — in cards
  5. file — a line of people
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. spring — the season
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. row — to paddle
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. spring — of water
  13. ball — a great time
  14. pound — a weight
  15. sharp — clever
  16. game — a match
  17. ball — a dance
  18. hand — help
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. row — a line
  24. game — wild animals

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