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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 116 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: bat · ball · last · scale · bank · bass · hand · wound

  1. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. bass — the fish
  4. last — to go on
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. ball — a dance
  8. scale — size or range
  9. hand — help
  10. wound — an injury
  11. scale — in music
  12. bank — for money
  13. last — finally
  14. last — final
  15. wound — an injury
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. hand — in cards
  18. bass — low music
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. ball — a great time
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bank — of a river

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