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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: pitch · content · bay · squash · hand · patient · pound · date

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. pound — a weight
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. content — the amount
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. hand — in cards
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. content — happy
  12. date — the fruit
  13. squash — the sport
  14. pitch — completely
  15. squash — to crush
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. hand — help
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  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