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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: prune · chest · patient · band · file · snap · pitcher · hand

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. file — a tool
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. band — a ring
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. hand — in cards
  13. file — a document
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. chest — a box
  16. hand — help
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. prune — to trim
  19. file — a line of people
  20. chest — of your body
  21. prune — to trim
  22. snap — to click
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  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