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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. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — of a river
  2. row — a line
  3. bank — for money
  4. firm — decided
  5. scale — in music
  6. press — a publisher
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. game — wild animals
  9. press — to push
  10. degree — from a university
  11. press — newspapers
  12. cold — an illness
  13. row — to paddle
  14. firm — a company
  15. degree — an amount
  16. cold — not warm
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. scale — size or range
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. firm — steady
  21. degree — temperature
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. game — a match
  24. bank — for money

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