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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. bank — of a river
  3. cold — an illness
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. club — a group
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. spring — of water
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. bat — the animal
  13. bank — for money
  14. cold — not warm
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. spring — a coil
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. club — for dancing
  20. bank — for money
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. spring — the season
  24. racket — a loud noise

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