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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: chest · mate · hand · mine · race · scale · field · bank

  1. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. mate — a partner
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. race — the arms race
  5. chest — a box
  6. bank — for money
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. scale — in music
  9. field — for sport
  10. mate — a friend
  11. hand — in cards
  12. scale — size or range
  13. field — a subject
  14. mine — for digging
  15. race — humankind
  16. chest — of your body
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. mate — to breed
  19. bank — of a river
  20. field — farmland
  21. hand — help
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. race — a contest
  24. chest — of your body

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