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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. content — the amount
  5. kid — to tease
  6. chest — a box
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. march — the month
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. march — the month
  12. content — happy
  13. kid — child
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. chest — of your body
  16. drill — a practice
  17. drill — the tool
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. chip — for betting
  21. drill — army training
  22. chip — to eat
  23. march — music
  24. nail — for a hammer

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