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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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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: straw · kid · bear · rush · cold · object · bank · can

  1. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  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. rush — to hurry
  2. cold — not warm
  3. bear — the animal
  4. bank — for money
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. object — an aim
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. kid — to tease
  9. rush — hurry
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. cold — an illness
  12. object — a thing
  13. object — to protest
  14. kid — child
  15. can — to be able to
  16. bear — the animal
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. can — a tin
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bank — of a river
  22. can — a tin
  23. rush — a thrill
  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