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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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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. land — ground
  3. content — happy
  4. spring — a coil
  5. chest — of your body
  6. band — a ring
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. chest — a box
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. bank — of a river
  11. bank — for money
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. bank — for money
  14. spring — the season
  15. spring — of water
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. land — to come down
  21. band — a music group
  22. land — a country
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. content — the amount

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