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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. stem — to come from
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. can — a tin
  6. tear — from crying
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. board — to get on
  10. tear — to rip
  11. tear — from crying
  12. band — a music group
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. content — happy
  16. board — a committee
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. band — a ring
  19. bat — the animal
  20. can — a tin
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. content — the amount

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