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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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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: rock · mine · mug · chest · pound · saw · file · present

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. mug — to rob
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. present — the time now
  5. chest — of your body
  6. file — a tool
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. chest — a box
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. mine — for digging
  11. file — a document
  12. saw — the tool
  13. pound — a weight
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. saw — the tool
  16. rock — a stone
  17. mug — a cup
  18. present — a gift
  19. chest — of your body
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. file — a line of people
  22. mug — a face
  23. rock — music
  24. present — there

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