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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: ball · bank · spring · stock · swing · cold · prune · bark

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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. prune — to trim
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. swing — in golf
  6. spring — a coil
  7. spring — of water
  8. ball — a dance
  9. stock — goods
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. bank — of a river
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. stock — shares
  14. swing — music
  15. bark — to shout
  16. ball — a great time
  17. bank — for money
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. prune — to trim
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. swing — to play on
  23. cold — an illness
  24. spring — the season

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