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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 124 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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: tear · wake · coach · pound · file · wind

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. wake — a trail
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. file — a line of people
  7. tear — from crying
  8. wind — moving air
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. file — a document
  13. file — a tool
  14. tear — to rip
  15. pound — a weight
  16. wind — moving air
  17. tear — from crying
  18. coach — a trainer

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