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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 120 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 · bear · rule · stem · chip · current · march · wound

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chip — for betting
  4. chest — a box
  5. wound — an injury
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. stem — to come from
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. march — the month
  11. current — electric
  12. rule — a law
  13. bear — the animal
  14. bear — the animal
  15. march — the month
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. chip — to eat
  19. current — happening now
  20. current — of water
  21. chest — of your body
  22. wound — an injury
  23. rule — government
  24. march — music

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