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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. swing — to play on
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. content — the amount
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. stand — to bear
  10. net — for catching
  11. cap — a hat
  12. net — in sport
  13. net — after costs
  14. swing — in golf
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cap — a lid
  17. stem — to come from
  18. cold — an illness
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. cap — of ice
  22. swing — music
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. patient — a sick person

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