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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: chest · wind · rash · hide · content · cabinet · patient · stock

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. chest — a box
  4. chest — of your body
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. content — happy
  13. content — the amount
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. rash — a series
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. chest — of your body
  20. stock — goods
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. stock — shares
  23. wind — moving air
  24. rash — hasty

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