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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. hand — in cards
  3. chair — a leader
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. court — of law
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. content — happy
  10. hand — help
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. cap — of ice
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. court — of a king
  16. tube — the underground
  17. tube — a container
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. cap — a hat
  20. court — for sport
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. content — the amount
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. nail — for a hammer

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