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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. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — of a river
  2. file — a line of people
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. face — to point toward
  6. chest — of your body
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. file — a document
  9. face — to confront
  10. bore — to tire
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. wind — moving air
  14. file — a tool
  15. bank — for money
  16. cold — an illness
  17. wind — moving air
  18. face — part of the head
  19. bank — for money
  20. sharp — clever
  21. cold — not warm
  22. bore — to drill
  23. chest — a box
  24. chest — of your body

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