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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: scale · bank · track · press · wound · kid · chair · cold

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. bank — for money
  3. scale — size or range
  4. bank — for money
  5. chair — a leader
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. scale — in music
  10. kid — to tease
  11. kid — child
  12. press — a publisher
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bank — of a river
  16. track — to keep track
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. track — a path
  20. press — newspapers
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. press — to push
  23. cold — not warm
  24. track — a song

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