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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. bat — the animal
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. branch — a division
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. wind — moving air
  8. bank — for money
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. content — happy
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. kick — in football
  13. bank — for money
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. pit — a hole
  18. content — the amount
  19. bank — of a river
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. pit — in a race
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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