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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. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. can — a tin
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. can — a tin
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. toast — bread
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. cold — not warm
  12. content — happy
  13. can — to be able to
  14. cold — an illness
  15. content — the amount
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. stem — to come from
  18. spell — letters
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. chair — a leader
  23. spell — a short time
  24. spell — magic

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