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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: kid · net · clip · bank · ground · pitcher · can · mine

  1. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. bank — for money
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. bank — of a river
  7. net — for catching
  8. kid — to tease
  9. bank — for money
  10. net — after costs
  11. can — a tin
  12. clip — a video
  13. clip — for paper
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. can — to be able to
  16. ground — crushed
  17. net — in sport
  18. kid — child
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. ground — a position
  22. ground — the earth
  23. clip — to cut
  24. mine — for digging

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