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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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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 · land · row · bulb · tear · file · rock · rest

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. tear — to rip
  3. land — a country
  4. rest — what's left
  5. rock — a stone
  6. file — a tool
  7. land — to come down
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. file — a line of people
  10. rest — a break
  11. rest — what's left
  12. file — a document
  13. tear — from crying
  14. wind — moving air
  15. land — ground
  16. row — to paddle
  17. rock — music
  18. wind — moving air
  19. tear — from crying
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. row — a line
  23. bulb — for light
  24. bulb — for light

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