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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. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. last — final
  3. bank — of a river
  4. prune — to trim
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. bank — for money
  10. last — to go on
  11. mine — for digging
  12. clip — a video
  13. clip — to cut
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. mark — a grade
  16. clip — for paper
  17. mark — a trace
  18. prune — to trim
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. last — finally

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