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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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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: patient · content · chest · shower · straw · squash

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. shower — to wash
  3. squash — the sport
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. chest — a box
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. chest — of your body
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. content — happy
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. content — the amount
  17. squash — to crush
  18. shower — rain

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