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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.

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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: net · band · club · bank · ball · land · spring · straw

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. bank — for money
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. club — for dancing
  6. bank — for money
  7. bank — of a river
  8. land — a country
  9. ball — a dance
  10. spring — a coil
  11. club — a group
  12. band — a ring
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. club — for golf
  15. spring — the season
  16. net — for catching
  17. ball — a great time
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. band — a music group
  20. net — in sport
  21. land — to come down
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. spring — of water
  24. land — ground

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