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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 · net · bank · kid · scale · clip · board · wound

  1. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wound — an injury
  4. scale — size or range
  5. spring — a coil
  6. scale — in music
  7. net — for catching
  8. board — to get on
  9. kid — child
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. kid — to tease
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. clip — a video
  14. spring — of water
  15. bank — of a river
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. net — after costs
  18. bank — for money
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. clip — to cut
  21. spring — the season
  22. board — a committee
  23. net — in sport
  24. clip — for paper

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