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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: chest · roll · stand · mine · pound · cue · kid · bank

  1. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — of a river
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. mine — for digging
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. cue — for pool
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. cue — a signal
  8. bank — for money
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. chest — of your body
  11. roll — a cake
  12. chest — of your body
  13. stand — to bear
  14. pound — a weight
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. kid — to tease
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. roll — a list
  20. bank — for money
  21. cue — a hint
  22. chest — a box
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. kid — child

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