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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: game · bank · pop · chest · wound · mine · rash · dip

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. chest — of your body
  3. bank — for money
  4. wound — an injury
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. bank — for money
  7. rash — hasty
  8. chest — of your body
  9. mine — for digging
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wound — an injury
  12. game — a match
  13. dip — to sink
  14. bank — of a river
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. game — wild animals
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. pop — to visit
  20. pop — music
  21. rash — a series
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. pop — soda
  24. chest — a box

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