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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: straw · bank · court · file · race · cold

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. cold — not warm
  3. race — humankind
  4. race — the arms race
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. cold — an illness
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. court — of a king
  9. court — for sport
  10. file — a document
  11. race — a contest
  12. bank — of a river
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. file — a line of people
  15. bank — for money
  16. file — a tool
  17. court — of law
  18. bank — for money

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