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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: file · rest · bank · cold · net · arm · wind · drill

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. drill — a practice
  3. cold — an illness
  4. wind — moving air
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. cold — not warm
  8. drill — the tool
  9. rest — what's left
  10. drill — army training
  11. file — a line of people
  12. rest — what's left
  13. net — for catching
  14. file — a document
  15. net — in sport
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. rest — a break
  19. net — after costs
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bank — for money
  22. bank — of a river
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. bank — for money

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