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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: chest · band · bank · cue · ground · field · deal · rush

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. band — a music group
  3. bank — for money
  4. deal — to handle
  5. cue — a hint
  6. cue — a signal
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. chest — of your body
  11. band — a ring
  12. chest — a box
  13. chest — of your body
  14. ground — crushed
  15. ground — the earth
  16. bank — of a river
  17. field — for sport
  18. bank — for money
  19. field — farmland
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. cue — for pool
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. field — a subject
  24. ground — a position

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