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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. bank — of a river
  3. jam — in traffic
  4. clip — a video
  5. bank — for money
  6. clip — to cut
  7. rule — government
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. race — the arms race
  10. race — humankind
  11. degree — an amount
  12. degree — temperature
  13. hand — in cards
  14. spring — of water
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. rule — a law
  18. spring — a coil
  19. hand — help
  20. race — a contest
  21. bank — for money
  22. degree — from a university
  23. clip — for paper
  24. spring — the season

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