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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 120 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  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. clip — for paper
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. bank — of a river
  5. tear — to rip
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. clip — a video
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. content — happy
  10. swing — in golf
  11. chest — of your body
  12. swing — to play on
  13. tear — from crying
  14. content — the amount
  15. chest — of your body
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. clip — to cut
  18. pound — a weight
  19. tear — from crying
  20. swing — music
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. chest — a box
  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