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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 120 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: file · tear · pit · ground · bass · band · spell · can

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. tear — to rip
  3. spell — letters
  4. file — a line of people
  5. pit — a hole
  6. pit — in a race
  7. file — a document
  8. can — a tin
  9. spell — a short time
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. bass — the fish
  12. spell — magic
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. tear — from crying
  15. ground — crushed
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. band — a music group
  18. file — a tool
  19. can — a tin
  20. band — a ring
  21. bass — low music
  22. ground — a position
  23. ground — the earth
  24. tear — from crying

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