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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: bank · cold · straw · cabinet · scale · roll · hand · clip

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. scale — size or range
  3. roll — a cake
  4. cold — an illness
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. hand — help
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. bank — for money
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. roll — a list
  14. clip — to cut
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bank — of a river
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — a video
  21. bank — for money
  22. cold — not warm
  23. scale — in music
  24. straw — a straw man

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