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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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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 · cabinet · snap · club · bank · staff · field · wound

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. field — a subject
  3. cold — not warm
  4. staff — a stick
  5. club — a group
  6. bank — for money
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. club — for dancing
  9. snap — to click
  10. bank — for money
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. field — farmland
  13. club — for golf
  14. cold — an illness
  15. staff — employees
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. field — for sport
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. staff — employees
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — an injury
  22. bank — of a river
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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