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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: content · rock · present · mark · cold · craft · drill · chest

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. present — the time now
  3. rock — music
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. chest — of your body
  7. present — a gift
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. drill — army training
  10. drill — the tool
  11. content — the amount
  12. mark — a grade
  13. mark — a trace
  14. present — there
  15. cold — an illness
  16. craft — a skill
  17. drill — a practice
  18. chest — a box
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. content — happy
  21. cold — not warm
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. craft — boats
  24. rock — a stone

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