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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: rock · hand · cap · tear · game · fine · chest · current

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  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. chest — of your body
  2. current — electric
  3. cap — a lid
  4. tear — from crying
  5. game — wild animals
  6. fine — all right
  7. cap — of ice
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. rock — music
  10. current — of water
  11. hand — help
  12. cap — a hat
  13. chest — a box
  14. tear — from crying
  15. fine — high quality
  16. game — a match
  17. tear — to rip
  18. current — happening now
  19. rock — a stone
  20. hand — in cards
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. fine — a penalty
  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