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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: cold · bat · capital · bank · arm · kick · prune · land

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. bank — of a river
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. capital — money
  6. land — ground
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. capital — a city
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. bank — for money
  11. land — a country
  12. prune — to trim
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. prune — to trim
  16. land — to come down
  17. kick — in football
  18. cold — an illness
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bat — the animal
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. cold — not warm
  24. bank — for money

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