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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. mate — a partner
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. spell — letters
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. spell — a short time
  9. content — happy
  10. roll — a cake
  11. mate — to breed
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. roll — a list
  14. deal — to handle
  15. bat — the animal
  16. mate — a friend
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. spell — magic
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. capital — money
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. capital — a city

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