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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. bank — for money
  3. file — a tool
  4. file — a document
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. ground — crushed
  7. rock — music
  8. rock — a stone
  9. ground — a position
  10. cap — of ice
  11. spell — magic
  12. bank — for money
  13. file — a line of people
  14. bank — of a river
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — not warm
  17. march — music
  18. ground — the earth
  19. cap — a hat
  20. march — the month
  21. cap — a lid
  22. spell — a short time
  23. spell — letters
  24. cold — an illness

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