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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. spell — a short time
  6. spell — magic
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. bank — of a river
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. bat — the animal
  11. chest — of your body
  12. snap — to click
  13. capital — money
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. chest — a box
  17. bank — for money
  18. hand — help
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. spell — letters
  22. capital — a city
  23. chest — of your body
  24. hand — in cards

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