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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: spring · bank · hand · rest · cold · scale · wound · wake

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. scale — in music
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. hand — in cards
  5. spring — a coil
  6. rest — what's left
  7. scale — size or range
  8. cold — not warm
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. bank — for money
  11. spring — the season
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. wake — a trail
  14. rest — what's left
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bank — of a river
  19. rest — a break
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — an injury
  22. spring — of water
  23. bank — for money
  24. hand — help

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