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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: chest · content · squash · tear · bank · patient · game · stock

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  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. game — wild animals
  2. game — a match
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. stock — goods
  5. bank — of a river
  6. chest — a box
  7. chest — of your body
  8. squash — the sport
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. content — the amount
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — to rip
  14. squash — to crush
  15. tear — from crying
  16. content — happy
  17. bank — for money
  18. bank — for money
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. stock — shares
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. patient — a sick person
  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