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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 120 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: straw · bank · bound · key · cell · coach · wind · field

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. bound — certain
  4. wind — moving air
  5. field — farmland
  6. key — the most important part
  7. field — for sport
  8. bank — of a river
  9. key — in music
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. bound — obliged
  12. bank — for money
  13. field — a subject
  14. bound — tied together
  15. cell — in biology
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. wind — moving air
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. bank — for money
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. cell — a phone
  24. key — for a lock

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