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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: pop · ball · chest · content · tear · patient · bay · shower

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. My mare is ________________ in color.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. chest — of your body
  4. content — happy
  5. tear — from crying
  6. ball — a dance
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. ball — a great time
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. pop — soda
  12. pop — to visit
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. shower — rain
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. tear — from crying
  17. shower — to wash
  18. tear — to rip
  19. content — the amount
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. pop — music
  23. chest — a box
  24. bay — a horse colour

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