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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. dip — to sink
  3. bass — the fish
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. bass — low music
  10. bank — for money
  11. file — a document
  12. cold — not warm
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. file — a line of people
  16. file — a tool
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bank — of a river

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