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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. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. march — the month
  4. club — for dancing
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. ground — crushed
  7. march — music
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. ground — a position
  10. cold — an illness
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. shower — rain
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. club — a group
  15. cold — not warm
  16. pass — a permit
  17. ground — the earth
  18. march — the month
  19. shower — to wash
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. bank — for money
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. club — for golf
  24. bank — of a river

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