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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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468
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 · bat · track · scale · shower · bank · clip · craft

  1. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. bank — for money
  3. craft — a skill
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bat — the animal
  8. track — a song
  9. cold — not warm
  10. scale — size or range
  11. shower — rain
  12. track — to keep track
  13. bank — of a river
  14. clip — for paper
  15. bank — for money
  16. track — a path
  17. clip — a video
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. shower — to wash
  21. craft — boats
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. clip — to cut
  24. craft — a handicraft

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