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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 · march · cold · roll · hide · last · pit · chest

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. last — to go on
  4. roll — a list
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. last — final
  7. bank — of a river
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. roll — a cake
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bank — for money
  13. pit — a hole
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. chest — of your body
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. chest — a box
  18. pit — in a race
  19. bank — for money
  20. cold — an illness
  21. last — finally
  22. march — the month
  23. march — the month
  24. chest — of your body

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