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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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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: pit · wound · chest · band · field · dip · mine · bank

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. field — farmland
  6. band — a ring
  7. bank — of a river
  8. bank — for money
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. field — for sport
  12. band — a music group
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. chest — a box
  15. field — a subject
  16. pit — a hole
  17. wound — an injury
  18. chest — of your body
  19. bank — for money
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. chest — of your body
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. dip — to sink
  24. pit — in a race

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