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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: bay · prune · land · bank · wax · file · chip · wind

  1. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. bank — of a river
  3. prune — to trim
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. wax — to grow
  6. land — a country
  7. chip — to eat
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. bank — for money
  10. wind — moving air
  11. bank — for money
  12. land — ground
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. file — a line of people
  15. land — to come down
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. prune — to trim
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. file — a document
  24. file — a tool

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