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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: chest · march · chip · cell · spring · wound · tube · stick

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. chest — of your body
  3. tube — the underground
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. tube — a container
  10. march — the month
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chip — to eat
  13. wound — an injury
  14. cell — in biology
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. march — music
  17. cell — a phone
  18. spring — the season
  19. spring — of water
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. march — the month
  22. chest — a box
  23. chip — for betting
  24. spring — a coil

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