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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: bank · branch · pass · spring · cold · stick · hand · straw

  1. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. hand — help
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bank — of a river
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. spring — of water
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. spring — a coil
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. bank — for money
  15. hand — in cards
  16. spring — the season
  17. bank — for money
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — not warm
  22. branch — a division
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. pass — a permit

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