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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: bowl · bank · cold · swing · clip · bear · cap · wake

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. swing — in golf
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. cold — not warm
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. bear — the animal
  7. clip — for paper
  8. bank — for money
  9. clip — to cut
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. cap — a hat
  13. wake — a trail
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. clip — a video
  16. swing — to play on
  17. swing — music
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. cap — of ice
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bank — of a river
  22. bank — for money
  23. cap — a lid
  24. cold — the Cold War

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