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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: shower · spring · bank · bat · content · bulb · wound · coach

  1. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — of a river
  2. wound — an injury
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. wound — an injury
  5. content — the amount
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. spring — of water
  9. shower — to wash
  10. shower — rain
  11. bank — for money
  12. bank — for money
  13. content — happy
  14. spring — the season
  15. bulb — for light
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bulb — for light
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. spring — a coil
  24. bat — in an idiom

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