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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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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. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. bank — of a river
  3. degree — from a university
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. kid — to tease
  6. bank — for money
  7. degree — an amount
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. squash — the sport
  10. squash — to crush
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. scale — in music
  14. scale — size or range
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. degree — temperature
  18. kid — child

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