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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: rest · tube · chest · nail · cold · arm · bank · roll

  1. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. rest — a break
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. tube — the underground
  5. chest — of your body
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. chest — of your body
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. chest — a box
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. cold — an illness
  14. rest — what's left
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. roll — a cake
  17. tube — a container
  18. bank — of a river
  19. bank — for money
  20. rest — what's left
  21. cold — not warm
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. roll — a list
  24. nail — for a hammer

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