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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: tear · wind · hide · land · mate · branch · temple · file

  1. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. mate — a partner
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. wind — moving air
  6. tear — from crying
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. wind — moving air
  11. land — to come down
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. tear — from crying
  14. file — a line of people
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. land — ground
  17. file — a tool
  18. mate — to breed
  19. tear — to rip
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. branch — a division
  23. mate — a friend
  24. land — a country

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