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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: club · band · bank · prune · bear · cold · field · wind

  1. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. cold — not warm
  4. club — a group
  5. club — for dancing
  6. wind — moving air
  7. field — a subject
  8. prune — to trim
  9. cold — an illness
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. bear — the animal
  12. bank — for money
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. field — farmland
  15. band — a ring
  16. club — for golf
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. bank — for money
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. field — for sport
  21. bank — of a river
  22. prune — to trim
  23. wind — moving air
  24. band — a music group

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