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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: wind · rock · hand · charge · race · land · file · pound

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. rock — music
  4. charge — a price
  5. charge — in control
  6. wind — moving air
  7. race — humankind
  8. land — a country
  9. hand — in cards
  10. hand — help
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. wind — moving air
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. pound — a weight
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. land — ground
  17. land — to come down
  18. charge — electricity
  19. race — the arms race
  20. file — a document
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. rock — a stone
  23. file — a line of people
  24. race — a contest

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