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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: object · march · tear · chest · file · land · cap · bound

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. land — to come down
  3. land — a country
  4. object — a thing
  5. land — ground
  6. file — a tool
  7. chest — of your body
  8. cap — a lid
  9. tear — from crying
  10. file — a line of people
  11. object — an aim
  12. march — the month
  13. chest — of your body
  14. file — a document
  15. bound — obliged
  16. bound — certain
  17. object — to protest
  18. tear — to rip
  19. march — the month
  20. march — music
  21. cap — a hat
  22. tear — from crying
  23. bound — tied together
  24. cap — of ice

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