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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 120 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: patient · stand · content · row · bowl · bat · fall · lie

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. fall — the season
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. fall — to drop
  10. row — to paddle
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. row — a line
  17. content — the amount
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. stand — to bear
  20. fall — to drop
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. bat — the animal
  23. lie — to recline
  24. patient — a sick person

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