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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: wind · tear · track · patient · content · bat · drill · cell

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. bat — the animal
  3. wind — moving air
  4. drill — the tool
  5. content — happy
  6. content — the amount
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. drill — a practice
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. drill — army training
  12. tear — from crying
  13. track — a path
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. tear — from crying
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. cell — a phone
  18. track — to keep track
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. wind — moving air
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. cell — in biology
  23. track — a song
  24. tear — to rip

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