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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: patient · mine · squash · kid · content · wave · spring · firm

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. squash — the sport
  3. spring — a coil
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. content — happy
  6. firm — a company
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. squash — to crush
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. mine — for digging
  11. kid — to tease
  12. spring — of water
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. firm — steady
  15. kid — child
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. spring — the season
  22. firm — decided
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. squash — the vegetable

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