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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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Word bank
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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: land · ruler · row · bank · cell · cold

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — an illness
  3. bank — for money
  4. row — to paddle
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. row — a line
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. bank — for money
  12. land — a country
  13. cell — a phone
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. cell — in biology
  16. land — to come down
  17. bank — of a river
  18. land — ground

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