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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: bark · chest · spell · kid · roll · coach · content · band

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. roll — a list
  6. bark — to shout
  7. band — a ring
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. roll — a cake
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. content — happy
  12. chest — a box
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. kid — child
  15. chest — of your body
  16. spell — letters
  17. spell — magic
  18. kid — to tease
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. spell — a short time
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. band — a music group
  24. content — the amount

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