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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.

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: arm · saw · rash · bank · clip · cold · game · scale

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. saw — the tool
  3. scale — in music
  4. clip — a video
  5. saw — the tool
  6. bank — for money
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. bank — of a river
  10. cold — not warm
  11. scale — size or range
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. rash — a series
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — an illness
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. game — a match
  19. clip — for paper
  20. game — wild animals
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. bank — for money
  23. clip — to cut
  24. rash — on the skin

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