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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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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: bank · court · rock · kid · row · can · wind · land

  1. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. court — for sport
  3. court — of law
  4. land — ground
  5. kid — to tease
  6. bank — for money
  7. rock — a stone
  8. rock — music
  9. can — a tin
  10. wind — moving air
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. bank — for money
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. can — to be able to
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. kid — child
  17. wind — moving air
  18. bank — of a river
  19. land — a country
  20. court — of a king
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. row — a line
  23. land — to come down
  24. row — to paddle

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