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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: wind · tear · file · lash · wake · land · branch · season

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. file — a line of people
  5. tear — from crying
  6. land — ground
  7. season — of the year
  8. season — in sport
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. wake — a trail
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. tear — from crying
  13. wind — moving air
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. file — a document
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. branch — a division
  19. land — a country
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. land — to come down
  22. file — a tool
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. tear — to rip

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