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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. bank — for money
  3. bank — for money
  4. vault — a safe
  5. clip — a video
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. bank — of a river
  8. staff — employees
  9. clip — for paper
  10. clip — to cut
  11. field — a subject
  12. hand — in cards
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. hand — help
  16. field — for sport
  17. field — farmland
  18. stock — shares
  19. wind — moving air
  20. staff — a stick
  21. staff — employees
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. stock — goods

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