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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: content · season · hand · patient · object · ground · toast · race

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. toast — bread
  3. ground — crushed
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. ground — a position
  7. season — in sport
  8. ground — the earth
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. race — humankind
  11. content — the amount
  12. hand — in cards
  13. hand — help
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. content — happy
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. season — of the year
  19. race — the arms race
  20. object — an aim
  21. object — a thing
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. race — a contest

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