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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: lash · pit · racket · content · prune · drill · patient · cold

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. cold — not warm
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. content — the amount
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. prune — to trim
  10. cold — an illness
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. pit — in a race
  13. prune — to trim
  14. pit — a hole
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. drill — army training
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. drill — the tool
  20. drill — a practice
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. prune — the fruit

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