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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. content — happy
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. present — a gift
  5. kid — to tease
  6. present — the time now
  7. march — the month
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. lie — to recline
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. plane — a tool
  16. content — the amount
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. kid — child
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. mine — for digging
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. march — music
  23. present — there
  24. march — the month

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