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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: bank · land · press · chest · file · dip · rule · wake

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  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. land — ground
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. bank — for money
  4. file — a line of people
  5. chest — of your body
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. rule — a law
  8. land — to come down
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. chest — a box
  11. dip — to sink
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. bank — of a river
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. bank — for money
  16. rule — government
  17. wake — a trail
  18. chest — of your body
  19. file — a document
  20. press — a publisher
  21. press — to push
  22. press — newspapers
  23. land — a country
  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