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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. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. bank — of a river
  3. bank — for money
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. game — a match
  6. clip — to cut
  7. cold — an illness
  8. game — wild animals
  9. object — an aim
  10. object — to protest
  11. band — a music group
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. season — in sport
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. object — a thing
  18. clip — for paper
  19. cold — not warm
  20. season — of the year
  21. clip — a video
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. band — a ring
  24. season — to add flavour

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