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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 116 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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. track — a song
  3. track — to keep track
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. fine — all right
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. content — the amount
  13. track — a path
  14. content — happy
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. fine — high quality
  20. rash — hasty
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. rash — a series
  24. wind — moving air

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