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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. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bank — of a river
  2. bank — for money
  3. spring — the season
  4. cold — an illness
  5. charge — electricity
  6. charge — in control
  7. spring — of water
  8. clip — for paper
  9. bank — for money
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. clip — to cut
  12. pit — in a race
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. land — a country
  16. cold — not warm
  17. land — ground
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. land — to come down
  20. pit — a hole
  21. charge — a price
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. spring — a coil
  24. clip — a video

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