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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: club · cold · object · snap · lash · bank · chest · pitcher

  1. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — of a river
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. bank — for money
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. club — for dancing
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — an illness
  8. chest — a box
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. object — an aim
  11. club — for golf
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. bank — for money
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. chest — of your body
  17. club — a group
  18. object — to protest
  19. object — a thing
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. chest — of your body
  24. snap — to click

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