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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 120 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: straw · ball · board · cold · spring · pit · bank · last

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. bank — of a river
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. board — a committee
  5. cold — an illness
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. cold — not warm
  8. last — finally
  9. pit — in a race
  10. last — final
  11. spring — of water
  12. board — to get on
  13. spring — the season
  14. ball — a great time
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. ball — a dance
  18. bank — for money
  19. bank — for money
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. pit — a hole
  23. spring — a coil
  24. straw — dry grass

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