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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: rash · bear · content · chest · nail · field · racket · fall

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. fall — to drop
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. fall — the season
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. rash — hasty
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. field — for sport
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. rash — a series
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. field — farmland
  13. chest — a box
  14. content — happy
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. bear — the animal
  17. content — the amount
  18. chest — of your body
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. field — a subject
  22. chest — of your body
  23. bear — the animal
  24. fall — to drop

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