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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: race · charge · cold · chair · bass · bank · object · hand

  1. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. hand — help
  3. hand — in cards
  4. charge — electricity
  5. object — a thing
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. chair — a leader
  8. bass — the fish
  9. object — an aim
  10. object — to protest
  11. race — a contest
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bank — for money
  14. charge — a price
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. bass — low music
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. cold — an illness
  20. race — the arms race
  21. cold — not warm
  22. charge — in control
  23. race — humankind
  24. bank — of a river

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