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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. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — of a river
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — not warm
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. stock — goods
  10. content — happy
  11. stock — shares
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. mine — for digging
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. band — a ring
  17. mark — a trace
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. wake — a trail
  20. bank — for money
  21. content — the amount
  22. mark — a grade
  23. bank — for money
  24. band — a music group

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