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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: land · temple · lash · club · branch · file · drill · spring

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. club — a group
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. file — a tool
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. branch — a division
  8. club — for golf
  9. drill — the tool
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. drill — army training
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. file — a document
  16. club — for dancing
  17. land — ground
  18. spring — a coil
  19. spring — of water
  20. file — a line of people
  21. land — a country
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. drill — a practice
  24. spring — the season

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