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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 · bank · lash · last · mine · arm · court · key

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. mine — for digging
  3. key — the most important part
  4. last — to go on
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. last — finally
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. cold — an illness
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. bank — for money
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. bank — for money
  13. cold — not warm
  14. last — final
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. court — of law
  17. court — for sport
  18. court — of a king
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. key — in music
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. bank — of a river
  24. key — for a lock

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