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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 120 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: rash · wind · pitcher · mark · stem · band · chest · game

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  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. pitcher — a jug
  2. mark — a grade
  3. chest — of your body
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — moving air
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. band — a music group
  10. game — a match
  11. stem — to come from
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. rash — a series
  15. chest — a box
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. game — wild animals
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. rash — hasty
  22. band — a ring
  23. mark — a trace
  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