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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: band · mark · coach · rest · hand · net · chest · wound

  1. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. rest — a break
  4. band — a ring
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. chest — a box
  7. hand — in cards
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. wound — an injury
  10. rest — what's left
  11. mark — a grade
  12. wound — an injury
  13. net — after costs
  14. net — for catching
  15. chest — of your body
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. rest — what's left
  18. band — a music group
  19. hand — help
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. mark — a trace
  24. chest — of your body

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