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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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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: chair · band · wind · temple · bank · roll · cell · game

  1. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. roll — a cake
  4. chair — a leader
  5. bank — for money
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. wind — moving air
  10. bank — of a river
  11. band — a music group
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. band — a ring
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. cell — in biology
  17. bank — for money
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. game — a match
  22. cell — a phone
  23. game — wild animals
  24. wind — moving air

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