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

Word bank: cold · bank · band · race · leaves · cell

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bank — for money
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. bank — for money
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. cold — an illness
  9. race — humankind
  10. cell — a phone
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. band — a music group
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. bank — of a river
  15. race — the arms race
  16. cell — in biology
  17. race — a contest
  18. band — a ring

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