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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. spring — of water
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. row — to paddle
  5. tear — to rip
  6. tear — from crying
  7. spring — a coil
  8. tear — from crying
  9. spring — the season
  10. row — a line
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. ground — a position
  13. bank — for money
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. bank — of a river
  16. ground — the earth
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. pass — a permit
  19. ground — crushed
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. dip — to sink
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. pass — to spend time

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