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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: wound · bank · cold · rash · sharp · calf · snap · row

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. snap — to click
  3. bank — of a river
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. wound — an injury
  6. row — to paddle
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. cold — an illness
  9. sharp — clever
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. row — a line
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bank — for money
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. bank — for money
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. wound — an injury
  19. cold — not warm
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. rash — a series
  23. rash — hasty
  24. sharp — with an edge

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