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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. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. squash — to crush
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. squash — the sport
  7. cold — not warm
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. clip — a video
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. clip — to cut
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. clip — for paper
  19. cold — an illness
  20. capital — a city
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. bank — of a river
  23. capital — money
  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