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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. scale — size or range
  4. clip — a video
  5. bank — of a river
  6. face — to confront
  7. cold — not warm
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. face — part of the head
  10. face — to point toward
  11. key — in music
  12. key — the most important part
  13. chip — to eat
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. cold — an illness
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. clip — for paper
  18. key — for a lock
  19. snap — to click
  20. chip — for betting
  21. bank — for money
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. scale — in music
  24. clip — to cut

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