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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: toast · patient · tear · chest · straw · content

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. chest — of your body
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. content — the amount
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. toast — bread
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. tear — to rip
  9. tear — from crying
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. chest — a box
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. chest — of your body
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. tear — from crying
  18. content — happy

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