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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. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — of a river
  2. pitch — completely
  3. fine — all right
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. fine — high quality
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. shower — to wash
  8. net — for catching
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. toast — bread
  11. hand — help
  12. hand — in cards
  13. cold — an illness
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. net — in sport
  16. bank — for money
  17. shower — rain
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. bank — for money
  20. net — after costs
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cold — not warm

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