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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: bank · racket · field · game · cell · rush · fan · clip

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. bank — for money
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. field — farmland
  5. field — for sport
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. bank — for money
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. cell — a phone
  11. rush — hurry
  12. clip — to cut
  13. clip — a video
  14. bank — of a river
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. game — wild animals
  17. cell — in biology
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. clip — for paper
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. racket — for tennis
  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