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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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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. prune — to trim
  3. roll — a list
  4. wound — an injury
  5. file — a tool
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. prune — to trim
  8. roll — a cake
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. bank — for money
  11. file — a line of people
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. bank — for money
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. clip — a video
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. clip — to cut
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bank — of a river
  22. clip — for paper
  23. file — a document
  24. wind — moving air

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