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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: kick · bank · wake · date · cold · toast · wind · straw

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. wind — moving air
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. bank — of a river
  6. bank — for money
  7. toast — bread
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. date — the fruit
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. bank — for money
  20. wake — a trail
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — not warm
  23. kick — in football
  24. kick — a thrill

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