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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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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: roll · cell · chest · ball · kid · rest · band · stock

  1. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. cell — in biology
  3. chest — of your body
  4. rest — what's left
  5. stock — shares
  6. kid — to tease
  7. kid — child
  8. rest — a break
  9. chest — of your body
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. ball — a dance
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. rest — what's left
  14. cell — a phone
  15. ball — a great time
  16. roll — a cake
  17. stock — goods
  18. band — a music group
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. band — a ring
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. chest — a box

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