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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. roll — a list
  3. cold — not warm
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. pound — a weight
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. wake — a trail
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. bank — for money
  10. bank — for money
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. cold — an illness
  13. spring — the season
  14. ground — the earth
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. spring — a coil
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. ground — a position
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. spring — of water
  22. ground — crushed
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. bank — of a river

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