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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 play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. bank — of a river
  3. bank — for money
  4. land — to come down
  5. stock — goods
  6. tear — from crying
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. bass — low music
  9. rock — a stone
  10. stock — shares
  11. cold — an illness
  12. tear — from crying
  13. rock — music
  14. cold — not warm
  15. tear — to rip
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. land — ground
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. land — a country
  21. bass — the fish
  22. bank — for money
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. calf — a young animal

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