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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 116 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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. board — a committee
  3. spring — the season
  4. game — wild animals
  5. game — a match
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. squash — to crush
  8. wind — moving air
  9. bank — for money
  10. capital — money
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. board — to get on
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. band — a music group
  16. wind — moving air
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. bank — of a river
  19. spring — of water
  20. squash — the sport
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. spring — a coil
  23. capital — a city
  24. band — a ring

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