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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. content — happy
  4. rock — music
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. wound — an injury
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. content — the amount
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. cell — a phone
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. chair — a leader
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. cell — in biology
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. court — of a king
  18. court — of law
  19. court — for sport
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. rock — a stone
  22. wound — an injury
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. content — videos and posts

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