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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 speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. wake — a trail
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. content — happy
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. wound — an injury
  11. chest — of your body
  12. row — a line
  13. drill — army training
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. chest — of your body
  16. drill — the tool
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. drill — a practice
  19. bank — for money
  20. content — the amount
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. row — to paddle
  23. bank — of a river
  24. chest — a box

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