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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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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: nail · mine · squash · pitcher · cold · bank · hand · season

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. bank — of a river
  6. bank — for money
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. squash — the sport
  9. bank — for money
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. season — of the year
  13. mine — for digging
  14. squash — to crush
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. cold — an illness
  18. season — in sport
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. hand — help
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. cold — not warm
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. hand — in cards

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