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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 120 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: game · rest · cold · bank · tear · row · band · season

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  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. cold — not warm
  2. game — a match
  3. bank — for money
  4. tear — from crying
  5. bank — of a river
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. rest — a break
  8. row — a line
  9. tear — from crying
  10. row — to paddle
  11. rest — what's left
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. game — wild animals
  14. season — in sport
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. band — a ring
  17. cold — an illness
  18. rest — what's left
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. band — a music group
  21. tear — to rip
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. season — of the year
  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