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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: lash · bank · spring · content · bowl · land · cold · fall

  1. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — of a river
  2. spring — a coil
  3. land — a country
  4. content — happy
  5. spring — the season
  6. bank — for money
  7. fall — the season
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. cold — not warm
  10. content — the amount
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. spring — of water
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bank — for money
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. land — to come down
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. land — ground
  23. fall — to drop
  24. fall — to drop

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