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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: bass · stand · rock · cold · clip · row · bank · wound

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. bank — for money
  3. wound — an injury
  4. cold — not warm
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. bass — low music
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. row — a line
  9. rock — a stone
  10. stand — to bear
  11. clip — a video
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. clip — to cut
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. bank — of a river
  16. clip — for paper
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bank — for money
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. rock — music
  21. bass — the fish
  22. row — to paddle
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. wound — an injury

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