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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 potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. can — a tin
  4. content — happy
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. can — to be able to
  7. chair — a leader
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. content — the amount
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. spring — the season
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. tear — to rip
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. spring — of water
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. spring — a coil
  18. chip — for betting
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. can — a tin
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tear — from crying

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