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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. bank — for money
  3. file — a document
  4. file — a tool
  5. shower — to wash
  6. file — a line of people
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. fork — in a road
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. march — music
  13. spring — of water
  14. mate — a friend
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. bank — of a river
  17. spring — a coil
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. march — the month
  20. march — the month
  21. shower — rain
  22. spring — the season
  23. mate — to breed
  24. bank — for money

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