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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: row · spring · ground · band · clip · squash · branch · file

  1. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. file — a tool
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. spring — of water
  6. ground — a position
  7. ground — crushed
  8. row — to paddle
  9. file — a document
  10. band — a ring
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. clip — to cut
  13. squash — the sport
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. squash — to crush
  16. band — a music group
  17. row — a line
  18. branch — a division
  19. clip — a video
  20. clip — for paper
  21. spring — a coil
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. spring — the season
  24. file — a line of people

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