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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 116 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: cold · bank · spell · bay · stock · cap · wind · swing

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. wind — moving air
  3. stock — shares
  4. spell — a short time
  5. swing — music
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bank — of a river
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. spell — magic
  11. stock — goods
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cap — a hat
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cap — of ice
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. bank — for money
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. swing — to play on
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. bank — for money
  23. cap — a lid
  24. swing — in golf

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