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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 hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. pop — music
  3. pop — to visit
  4. drill — the tool
  5. file — a line of people
  6. file — a tool
  7. wind — moving air
  8. branch — a division
  9. hand — help
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. stem — to come from
  12. firm — steady
  13. file — a document
  14. drill — a practice
  15. pop — soda
  16. firm — decided
  17. hand — in cards
  18. firm — a company
  19. wind — moving air
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. drill — army training
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. stem — of a plant

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