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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: bank · tear · date · court · bowl · squash · cold · tube

  1. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. court — for sport
  4. tear — from crying
  5. court — of a king
  6. bank — for money
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. cold — not warm
  9. tear — from crying
  10. date — the fruit
  11. court — of law
  12. cold — an illness
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. tube — a container
  17. bank — of a river
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. squash — to crush
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. tear — to rip
  22. squash — the sport
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. tube — the underground

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