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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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. net — in sport
  4. fork — in a road
  5. chair — a leader
  6. shower — to wash
  7. bank — of a river
  8. bank — for money
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. cold — an illness
  12. net — for catching
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. net — after costs
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. fan — a supporter

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