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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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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: cold · current · file · bank · bound · bat · spell · craft

  1. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — of a river
  2. bank — for money
  3. craft — a skill
  4. current — of water
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. craft — boats
  7. file — a line of people
  8. cold — an illness
  9. bound — tied together
  10. spell — magic
  11. file — a tool
  12. bound — obliged
  13. cold — not warm
  14. current — happening now
  15. spell — a short time
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. file — a document
  18. current — electric
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. spell — letters
  21. bound — certain
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bank — for money
  24. bat — for baseball

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