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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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. content — happy
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. clip — to cut
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. file — a line of people
  8. file — a tool
  9. clip — for paper
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. file — a document
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. bass — the fish
  17. bass — low music
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. snap — to click
  22. clip — a video
  23. content — the amount
  24. fork — in a road

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