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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 120 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: straw · ground · stand · cold · bank · object

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. stand — to bear
  3. object — an aim
  4. cold — not warm
  5. object — to protest
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. bank — for money
  9. bank — for money
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. object — a thing
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. ground — crushed
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. ground — the earth
  17. bank — of a river
  18. cold — an illness

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