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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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Word bank
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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 · bat · content · pass · coach · face · roll · spring

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. spring — the season
  5. spring — a coil
  6. pass — a permit
  7. spring — of water
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. content — happy
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. content — the amount
  18. roll — a cake
  19. face — to point toward
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. roll — a list
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. face — to confront
  24. bat — the animal

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