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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 · pit · row · bat · mark · snap · firm · content

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. mark — a trace
  3. firm — a company
  4. firm — steady
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. pit — a hole
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. pit — in a race
  10. firm — decided
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. content — happy
  14. row — a line
  15. content — the amount
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bat — the animal
  18. row — to paddle
  19. snap — to click
  20. mark — a grade
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. bat — in an idiom

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