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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: pit · cold · content · kick · prune · bank · spell · wind

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. spell — letters
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. kick — in football
  5. content — the amount
  6. bank — for money
  7. prune — to trim
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. bank — of a river
  10. wind — moving air
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bank — for money
  13. spell — magic
  14. pit — in a race
  15. pit — a hole
  16. content — happy
  17. prune — to trim
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. cold — not warm
  20. spell — a short time
  21. wind — moving air
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. prune — the fruit

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