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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: file · cold · mine · bank · wind · land · safe · arm

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. bank — for money
  4. wind — moving air
  5. file — a document
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. wind — moving air
  8. land — a country
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. bank — for money
  12. file — a tool
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. safe — a strongbox
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. land — to come down
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. land — ground
  19. file — a line of people
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. bank — of a river
  22. cold — an illness
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. cold — not warm

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