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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 116 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. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. bank — for money
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. rock — a stone
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. file — a tool
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — an illness
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. race — the arms race
  13. bark — to shout
  14. race — humankind
  15. net — for catching
  16. bank — of a river
  17. net — in sport
  18. rock — music
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. pound — a weight
  21. race — a contest
  22. net — after costs
  23. file — a document
  24. file — a line of people

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