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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: straw · squash · pass · race · pit · cold · bat · bank

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. bank — for money
  6. race — humankind
  7. race — a contest
  8. squash — to crush
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. pit — a hole
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. race — the arms race
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. pass — a permit
  16. pit — in a race
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. bank — of a river
  19. bank — for money
  20. cold — an illness
  21. squash — the sport
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bat — in an idiom

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