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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: bass · bank · bark · cold · fine · game · spring · last

  1. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — of a river
  2. bass — low music
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. game — wild animals
  5. bark — to shout
  6. cold — not warm
  7. last — final
  8. cold — an illness
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. last — finally
  11. spring — the season
  12. spring — of water
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. bank — for money
  16. last — to go on
  17. bass — the fish
  18. spring — a coil
  19. fine — high quality
  20. bank — for money
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. fine — all right
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. game — a match

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