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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. staff — employees
  3. staff — a stick
  4. wound — an injury
  5. branch — a division
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. land — a country
  8. wound — an injury
  9. file — a line of people
  10. march — the month
  11. land — to come down
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. tear — to rip
  14. march — music
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. march — the month
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. land — ground
  20. file — a document
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. tear — from crying
  23. staff — employees
  24. tear — from crying

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