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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: bark · wake · charge · content · lean · row · hand · patient

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. hand — help
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. charge — in control
  7. charge — a price
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. bark — to shout
  11. content — happy
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. lean — thin
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. content — the amount
  16. charge — electricity
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. hand — in cards
  19. row — a line
  20. wake — a trail
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. row — to paddle
  24. content — videos and posts

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