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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: firm · scale · wind · kid · ground · branch · present · file

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. scale — size or range
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. kid — child
  5. ground — the earth
  6. file — a tool
  7. ground — crushed
  8. present — the time now
  9. firm — steady
  10. file — a document
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — moving air
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. branch — a division
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. file — a line of people
  17. scale — in music
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. ground — a position
  20. present — there
  21. present — a gift
  22. firm — a company
  23. firm — decided
  24. wind — to turn a key

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