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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. chest — of your body
  4. staff — employees
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. band — a music group
  7. branch — a division
  8. chest — a box
  9. band — a ring
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. lean — to bend
  12. chest — of your body
  13. last — to go on
  14. shower — to wash
  15. last — final
  16. staff — a stick
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. shower — rain
  19. staff — employees
  20. last — finally
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. branch — of a bank

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