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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 116 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: wind · field · plane · chip · game · stick · cold · bank

  1. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. cold — not warm
  3. field — for sport
  4. wind — moving air
  5. field — farmland
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. game — wild animals
  8. chip — to eat
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. field — a subject
  11. chip — for betting
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. wind — moving air
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. bank — for money
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — an illness
  18. plane — a tool
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. bank — for money
  23. bank — of a river
  24. game — a match

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