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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.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. content — happy
  3. land — ground
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. content — the amount
  7. land — to come down
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. vault — a safe
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. land — a country

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