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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 116 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'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — of a river
  2. bank — for money
  3. cell — a phone
  4. cell — in biology
  5. present — a gift
  6. ground — the earth
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. degree — an amount
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. ground — a position
  12. ground — crushed
  13. degree — from a university
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — an illness
  16. fork — in a road
  17. present — the time now
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. bank — for money
  20. degree — temperature
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. present — there
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. cold — not warm

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