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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: patient · content · bat · wind · fall · rest · hide · hand

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. fall — to drop
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. content — the amount
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. rest — what's left
  13. fall — to drop
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. bat — the animal
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. hand — in cards
  20. rest — what's left
  21. rest — a break
  22. wind — moving air
  23. fall — the season
  24. content — happy

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