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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: cell · file · bank · squash · wind · face · lean · field

  1. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. face — part of the head
  3. face — to confront
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. file — a tool
  6. cell — a phone
  7. lean — to bend
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. wind — moving air
  11. squash — to crush
  12. squash — the sport
  13. bank — of a river
  14. bank — for money
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. cell — in biology
  17. lean — thin
  18. face — to point toward
  19. field — a subject
  20. field — for sport
  21. field — farmland
  22. file — a line of people
  23. file — a document
  24. wind — moving air

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