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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: content · chest · kick · stand · row · patient · nail · hand

  1. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. chest — of your body
  3. hand — in cards
  4. content — the amount
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. kick — in football
  7. hand — help
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. content — happy
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. chest — of your body
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. row — a line
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. chest — a box
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. stand — to bear
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. row — to paddle

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