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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: bank · tear · chest · saw · hand · patient · sharp · scale

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. bank — of a river
  3. chest — of your body
  4. saw — the tool
  5. tear — from crying
  6. chest — of your body
  7. saw — the tool
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. chest — a box
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. tear — to rip
  13. bank — for money
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. hand — help
  16. bank — for money
  17. sharp — clever
  18. tear — from crying
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. scale — size or range
  21. hand — in cards
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. scale — in music

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