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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: rush · bank · perch · date · bay · hide · roll · cold

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. bank — for money
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. rush — hurry
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. perch — the fish
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. bank — of a river
  10. roll — a cake
  11. cold — an illness
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bank — for money
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. cold — not warm
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. date — the fruit
  24. roll — a list

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