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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: cap · wound · suit · spring · content · patient · chest · band

  1. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. When will it ________________ you to start?
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — clothes
  2. chest — a box
  3. cap — a lid
  4. suit — to fit
  5. band — a ring
  6. cap — a hat
  7. chest — of your body
  8. content — happy
  9. wound — an injury
  10. cap — of ice
  11. spring — the season
  12. content — the amount
  13. suit — in cards
  14. band — a music group
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. spring — a coil
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. chest — of your body
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. wound — an injury
  24. spring — of water

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