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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: chest · chip · band · bear · face · nail · content · key

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. key — for a lock
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. chip — to eat
  5. face — to point toward
  6. band — a ring
  7. band — a music group
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. chest — a box
  10. bear — the animal
  11. face — to confront
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chip — for betting
  14. key — the most important part
  15. key — in music
  16. chest — of your body
  17. content — happy
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. content — the amount
  20. face — part of the head
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. bear — the animal

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