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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 116 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: trunk · lean · stick · pound · file · row · mine · net

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. stick — to attach or keep to
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. pound — a weight
  5. net — after costs
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. file — a document
  8. mine — for digging
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. net — in sport
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. file — a line of people
  16. row — to paddle
  17. lean — to bend
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. lean — thin
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. net — for catching
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. row — a line
  24. file — a tool

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