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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. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  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. bank — of a river
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. net — after costs
  4. lean — to bend
  5. bank — for money
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. net — for catching
  9. net — in sport
  10. bank — for money
  11. lean — thin
  12. key — for a lock
  13. cold — not warm
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. pitch — completely
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. key — in music
  18. bark — to shout
  19. cold — an illness
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. key — the most important part
  23. lean — to rest against
  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