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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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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: present · pound · clip · file · bank · spring · rule · wound

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. present — there
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. file — a tool
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. spring — a coil
  8. bank — of a river
  9. rule — a law
  10. clip — a video
  11. bank — for money
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. bank — for money
  14. present — the time now
  15. spring — of water
  16. spring — the season
  17. clip — to cut
  18. pound — a weight
  19. present — a gift
  20. clip — for paper
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — an injury
  23. file — a line of people
  24. file — a document

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