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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. ground — crushed
  3. bank — for money
  4. chest — of your body
  5. chest — of your body
  6. hand — help
  7. dip — to sink
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. clip — a video
  10. clip — for paper
  11. rush — hurry
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. chest — a box
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. ground — the earth
  16. rash — hasty
  17. rash — a series
  18. hand — in cards
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. ground — a position
  21. clip — to cut
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. bank — of a river
  24. dip — a sauce

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