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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 · club · race · ground · bank · face · wound · bat

  1. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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. wound — an injury
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. ground — the earth
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. ground — crushed
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. face — part of the head
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. face — to confront
  13. bank — for money
  14. club — for golf
  15. face — to point toward
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. bat — the animal
  18. race — humankind
  19. club — for dancing
  20. wound — an injury
  21. race — the arms race
  22. ground — a position
  23. race — a contest
  24. club — a group

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