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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: deal · staff · spring · shower · bank · wax · file · march

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  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. shower — to wash
  2. march — the month
  3. file — a document
  4. bank — of a river
  5. march — music
  6. file — a tool
  7. spring — a coil
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. deal — to handle
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. shower — rain
  14. spring — of water
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. bank — for money
  17. bank — for money
  18. spring — the season
  19. wax — to grow
  20. staff — employees
  21. staff — a stick
  22. staff — employees
  23. march — the month
  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