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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  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. bank — of a river
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. file — a document
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bat — the animal
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. cold — not warm
  10. snap — to click
  11. bank — for money
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. lie — to recline
  15. mine — for digging
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. bank — for money
  19. file — a line of people
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. file — a tool

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