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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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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 · sharp · file · wound · band · ground · hide · tear

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. tear — from crying
  3. ground — the earth
  4. ground — a position
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. tear — to rip
  7. wound — an injury
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. file — a line of people
  11. file — a document
  12. ground — crushed
  13. band — a music group
  14. sharp — clever
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. file — a tool
  19. band — a ring
  20. tear — from crying
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. wound — an injury
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. sharp — with an edge

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