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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: spring · mine · bank · net · clip · rash · track · fork

  1. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. fork — in a road
  3. bank — for money
  4. bank — of a river
  5. net — for catching
  6. clip — a video
  7. mine — for digging
  8. net — in sport
  9. rash — a series
  10. spring — the season
  11. net — after costs
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. rash — hasty
  14. spring — a coil
  15. track — to keep track
  16. track — a path
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. clip — for paper
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. clip — to cut
  22. bank — for money
  23. spring — of water
  24. track — a song

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