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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: cabinet · rush · root · chest · mine · file · hide · pound

  1. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. chest — of your body
  4. root — of a word
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. mine — for digging
  7. rush — hurry
  8. file — a line of people
  9. root — the cause
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. pound — a weight
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. chest — a box
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. chest — of your body
  18. root — of a plant
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. file — a document
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. file — a tool
  24. pound — for dogs

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