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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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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: cap · cold · file · prune · ground · bank · wind · drill

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. drill — a practice
  3. file — a tool
  4. ground — a position
  5. ground — crushed
  6. prune — to trim
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. file — a document
  10. cap — a hat
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. wind — moving air
  13. bank — of a river
  14. cold — not warm
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. file — a line of people
  17. drill — the tool
  18. wind — moving air
  19. cap — of ice
  20. bank — for money
  21. bank — for money
  22. drill — army training
  23. ground — the earth
  24. cap — a lid

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