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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: wake · band · mine · row · cell · wind · lash · file

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. wind — moving air
  4. row — a line
  5. cell — a phone
  6. wind — moving air
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. band — a music group
  9. mine — for digging
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. file — a document
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. wake — a trail
  16. file — a line of people
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. cell — in biology
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. file — a tool
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. band — a ring
  24. lash — an eyelash

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