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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: straw · wind · spring · pitch · bank · rash · club · snap

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. bank — for money
  3. club — a group
  4. club — for dancing
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. bank — for money
  7. club — for golf
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. spring — of water
  10. rash — hasty
  11. spring — the season
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. rash — a series
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. spring — a coil
  17. bank — of a river
  18. pitch — completely
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. snap — to click
  24. wind — moving air

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