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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 walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. ground — a position
  3. file — a tool
  4. ground — crushed
  5. file — a document
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. spring — the season
  8. rule — government
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wound — an injury
  11. spring — of water
  12. spring — a coil
  13. ground — the earth
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. stock — goods
  16. march — music
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. march — the month
  19. march — the month
  20. branch — a division
  21. stock — shares
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. rule — a law
  24. branch — of a bank

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