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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 120 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: spring · fork · fall · bank · pitcher · cell · rest · game

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. spring — a coil
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. bank — for money
  5. rest — what's left
  6. fall — to drop
  7. cell — a phone
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. game — a match
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. spring — of water
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. cell — in biology
  14. spring — the season
  15. fork — in a road
  16. bank — of a river
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. bank — for money
  19. fall — the season
  20. fall — to drop
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. rest — a break
  23. rest — what's left
  24. game — wild animals

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