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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: prune · club · chest · pop · file · bank · mine · spell

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. club — for dancing
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — of your body
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — to trim
  7. chest — a box
  8. bank — of a river
  9. pop — to visit
  10. club — for golf
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. spell — a short time
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. file — a document
  15. file — a line of people
  16. bank — for money
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. pop — music
  19. pop — soda
  20. mine — for digging
  21. spell — magic
  22. bank — for money
  23. spell — letters
  24. club — a group

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