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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. mine — for digging
  4. object — to protest
  5. shower — to wash
  6. rule — government
  7. pound — a weight
  8. file — a tool
  9. file — a line of people
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. object — a thing
  13. rule — a law
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. wound — an injury
  16. object — an aim
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. branch — a division
  19. shower — rain
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. file — a document
  24. mine — an explosive

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