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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. shower — rain
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. key — the most important part
  11. shower — to wash
  12. mine — for digging
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. key — in music
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. wake — a trail
  20. content — the amount
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. key — for a lock

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