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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: chest · bank · mouse · cold · charge · clip · shower · bear

  1. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  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. bear — the animal
  3. cold — an illness
  4. shower — to wash
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cold — not warm
  8. charge — electricity
  9. shower — rain
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. clip — to cut
  13. clip — a video
  14. chest — of your body
  15. bank — for money
  16. charge — in control
  17. chest — a box
  18. bank — of a river
  19. bear — the animal
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. charge — a price
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. cold — the Cold War
  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