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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: tear · craft · cold · mine · mouse · tube · bank · spell

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. craft — boats
  3. tube — the underground
  4. bank — of a river
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. tube — a container
  8. spell — a short time
  9. mine — for digging
  10. cold — not warm
  11. spell — letters
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. craft — a skill
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. bank — for money
  16. tear — from crying
  17. cold — an illness
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. tear — to rip
  20. bank — for money
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. tear — from crying

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