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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — of a river
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. bank — for money
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. tear — from crying
  6. deal — to handle
  7. wound — an injury
  8. fork — in a road
  9. net — after costs
  10. bat — the animal
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. clip — to cut
  13. clip — for paper
  14. net — in sport
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. tear — to rip
  17. wound — an injury
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. bank — for money
  21. clip — a video
  22. tear — from crying
  23. net — for catching
  24. deal — a big deal

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