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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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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. stand — to bear
  3. last — final
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. content — the amount
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. file — a document
  9. last — finally
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. file — a line of people
  12. last — to go on
  13. file — a tool
  14. mine — for digging
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. content — happy
  19. hand — in cards
  20. hand — help
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. kick — in football

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