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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 · bass · kid · fan · nail · race · fall · bark

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. bank — for money
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. bank — of a river
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. fall — to drop
  7. bass — the fish
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. bark — to shout
  11. kid — to tease
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. fall — to drop
  16. race — the arms race
  17. bass — low music
  18. race — a contest
  19. fall — the season
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. race — humankind
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. bank — for money
  24. kid — child

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