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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: rest · spring · stock · spell · chest · mine · hand · board

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. rest — a break
  3. board — a committee
  4. spell — letters
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. mine — for digging
  7. rest — what's left
  8. rest — what's left
  9. spell — a short time
  10. spring — of water
  11. spring — the season
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. stock — goods
  14. hand — help
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. chest — a box
  17. stock — shares
  18. spell — magic
  19. board — to get on
  20. spring — a coil
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. chest — of your body
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. hand — in cards

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