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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 116 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: file · coach · bound · row · tear · bass · present · swing

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. file — a tool
  3. file — a document
  4. tear — from crying
  5. swing — in golf
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. tear — to rip
  9. file — a line of people
  10. row — a line
  11. bound — tied together
  12. present — there
  13. present — the time now
  14. bound — certain
  15. present — a gift
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. row — to paddle
  19. bass — the fish
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. tear — from crying
  22. swing — to play on
  23. bound — obliged
  24. swing — music

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