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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: tube · rock · snap · cold · coach · field · key · bank

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. field — for sport
  3. snap — to click
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. field — farmland
  6. key — for a lock
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. cold — not warm
  10. key — in music
  11. rock — a stone
  12. tube — a container
  13. bank — of a river
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. key — the most important part
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. cold — an illness
  19. rock — music
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. bank — for money
  23. bank — for money
  24. field — a subject

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