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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. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. cell — a phone
  3. content — happy
  4. tube — a container
  5. land — ground
  6. content — the amount
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. march — the month
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. march — music
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. march — the month
  14. tube — the underground
  15. land — a country
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. land — to come down
  22. cell — in biology
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. bark — to shout

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