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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: wake · file · lash · branch · game · capital · firm · wind

  1. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. firm — decided
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. file — a tool
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. wind — moving air
  9. game — wild animals
  10. capital — a city
  11. wake — a trail
  12. firm — a company
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. capital — money
  15. branch — a division
  16. game — a match
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. file — a line of people
  19. wind — moving air
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. file — a document
  24. branch — of a bank

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