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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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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: cold · bank · field · mine · suit · chip · chair · root

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. suit — clothes
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. bank — for money
  5. chip — to eat
  6. root — of a plant
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. root — the cause
  10. chip — for betting
  11. cold — not warm
  12. suit — to fit
  13. root — of a word
  14. field — a subject
  15. mine — for digging
  16. bank — of a river
  17. suit — in cards
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. field — for sport
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. field — farmland
  22. bank — for money
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. cold — an illness

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