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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: stock · bank · court · face · straw · drill · craft · cold

  1. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. court — of a king
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. drill — the tool
  5. bank — of a river
  6. court — for sport
  7. face — to point toward
  8. drill — army training
  9. face — part of the head
  10. cold — an illness
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. face — to confront
  14. stock — goods
  15. craft — a skill
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. craft — boats
  19. bank — for money
  20. drill — a practice
  21. cold — not warm
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. stock — shares
  24. court — of law

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