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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 116 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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. Hold the papers together 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. ground — crushed
  3. file — a line of people
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. ground — the earth
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. stock — goods
  8. pound — a weight
  9. cold — not warm
  10. stock — shares
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. clip — a video
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. file — a document
  16. bank — for money
  17. bank — for money
  18. file — a tool
  19. cold — an illness
  20. ground — a position
  21. clip — to cut
  22. lie — to recline
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. clip — for paper

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