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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  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. shower — rain
  3. drill — a practice
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. kid — to tease
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. club — for dancing
  9. club — for golf
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. face — to point toward
  12. shower — to wash
  13. face — to confront
  14. drill — the tool
  15. roll — a cake
  16. roll — a list
  17. drill — army training
  18. club — a group
  19. kid — child
  20. face — part of the head
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bank — of a river
  23. roll — on a roll
  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