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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. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — of a river
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. net — for catching
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. swing — music
  6. spring — a coil
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bank — for money
  9. swing — to play on
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. rash — a series
  12. spring — of water
  13. hand — in cards
  14. hand — help
  15. net — after costs
  16. rash — hasty
  17. spring — the season
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. net — in sport
  20. cold — not warm
  21. swing — in golf
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. bank — for money
  24. wake — a trail

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