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

Word bank: wave · patient · bat · court · tear · kick · rush · content

  1. That must've been a ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. tear — to rip
  3. court — of law
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. tear — from crying
  6. content — the amount
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. court — for sport
  10. rush — hurry
  11. content — happy
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. tear — from crying
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. bat — the animal
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. kick — in football
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. court — of a king
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. rush — to hurry

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