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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 120 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: spring · cold · band · scale · hand · bank · net · track

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. track — a path
  3. band — a ring
  4. cold — not warm
  5. hand — help
  6. bank — for money
  7. scale — size or range
  8. hand — in cards
  9. net — for catching
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. track — to keep track
  12. net — after costs
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. bank — of a river
  16. spring — a coil
  17. net — in sport
  18. scale — in music
  19. bank — for money
  20. cold — an illness
  21. band — a music group
  22. spring — of water
  23. spring — the season
  24. track — a song

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