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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 water is too ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. content — happy
  5. drill — army training
  6. club — for golf
  7. content — the amount
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. pit — in a race
  10. drill — the tool
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. club — a group
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — from crying
  16. net — after costs
  17. net — for catching
  18. net — in sport
  19. pit — a hole
  20. club — for dancing
  21. drill — a practice
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. tear — to rip
  24. cold — an illness

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