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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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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: march · mine · file · bowl · fall · game · wind · cell

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. game — a match
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. fall — to drop
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. file — a document
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. cell — a phone
  9. wind — moving air
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. march — music
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. game — wild animals
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. march — the month
  18. march — the month
  19. fall — to drop
  20. fall — the season
  21. file — a tool
  22. wind — moving air
  23. mine — for digging
  24. file — a line of people

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