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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 116 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: hand · rash · trunk · chip · cold · bank · bat · march

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. bank — for money
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bank — for money
  7. march — the month
  8. cold — not warm
  9. rash — hasty
  10. march — music
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bank — of a river
  13. chip — to eat
  14. hand — help
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. march — the month
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. chip — for betting
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. cold — an illness
  22. rash — a series
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. chip — in a computer

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