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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: hand · bank · bass · chest · cell · rule · wind · field

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. wind — moving air
  3. field — a subject
  4. cell — in biology
  5. rule — a law
  6. bank — for money
  7. bank — of a river
  8. field — farmland
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. hand — in cards
  11. chest — a box
  12. chest — of your body
  13. field — for sport
  14. bass — low music
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. cell — a phone
  17. rule — government
  18. bass — the fish
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. wind — moving air
  23. bank — for money
  24. hand — help

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