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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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: fan · file · prune · cold · ground · bank · stem · lash

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. ground — crushed
  3. bank — of a river
  4. ground — a position
  5. bank — for money
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. prune — to trim
  11. file — a line of people
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. cold — an illness
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. stem — to come from
  19. prune — to trim
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. ground — the earth
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. bank — for money
  24. file — a document

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