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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. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. face — to confront
  3. present — a gift
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. charge — electricity
  6. face — to point toward
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. kid — child
  9. charge — a price
  10. rush — hurry
  11. cold — not warm
  12. present — there
  13. face — part of the head
  14. file — a line of people
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. kid — to tease
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. present — the time now
  19. file — a tool
  20. file — a document
  21. cold — an illness
  22. charge — in control
  23. bank — for money
  24. bank — of a river

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