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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. present — there
  3. wind — moving air
  4. file — a line of people
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. bank — for money
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. present — a gift
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. pass — a permit
  11. rest — a break
  12. kid — to tease
  13. present — the time now
  14. kid — child
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rest — what's left
  17. capital — a city
  18. wind — moving air
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. bank — of a river
  22. capital — money
  23. file — a document
  24. file — a tool

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