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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. bank — for money
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. cold — not warm
  6. drill — the tool
  7. drill — army training
  8. spring — the season
  9. fall — to drop
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. drill — a practice
  12. bank — for money
  13. hand — in cards
  14. fall — to drop
  15. pass — a permit
  16. bass — low music
  17. bank — of a river
  18. spring — a coil
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. spring — of water
  21. bass — the fish
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. fall — the season
  24. cold — an illness

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