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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: bank · bound · field · clip · fine · mine · chair · staff

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. mine — for digging
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. bound — tied together
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. chair — a leader
  7. staff — employees
  8. clip — for paper
  9. field — a subject
  10. fine — all right
  11. bound — obliged
  12. fine — high quality
  13. staff — employees
  14. bank — for money
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. bound — certain
  17. field — for sport
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. bank — of a river
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. staff — a stick
  22. field — farmland
  23. clip — a video
  24. bank — for money

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