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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. rest — a break
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. rest — what's left
  5. rest — what's left
  6. hand — help
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. stem — to come from
  10. wake — a trail
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. hand — in cards
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. band — a music group
  18. content — happy
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. content — the amount

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