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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: file · branch · board · plane · wound · wind · mouse · straw

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  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. file — a tool
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. plane — a tool
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. branch — a division
  10. wind — moving air
  11. board — a committee
  12. wound — an injury
  13. file — a document
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. wind — moving air
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. wound — an injury
  23. board — to get on
  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