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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: stock · band · ground · chest · safe · wind · patient · face

  1. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. band — a music group
  3. wind — moving air
  4. ground — crushed
  5. stock — goods
  6. ground — a position
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. chest — a box
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. ground — the earth
  11. wind — moving air
  12. chest — of your body
  13. safe — a strongbox
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. face — to confront
  17. chest — of your body
  18. band — a ring
  19. stock — shares
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. face — part of the head
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. face — to point toward

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