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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: race · patient · chest · bark · band · snap · cap · stock

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. cap — of ice
  3. race — a contest
  4. race — humankind
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. stock — goods
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. chest — a box
  12. bark — to shout
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. snap — to click
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. cap — a hat
  17. chest — of your body
  18. band — a ring
  19. stock — shares
  20. race — the arms race
  21. cap — a lid
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  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