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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: bat · content · patient · bound · cold · tear · object · wind

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. content — the amount
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. object — a thing
  6. tear — from crying
  7. cold — not warm
  8. wind — moving air
  9. object — an aim
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. content — happy
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. bound — obliged
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. bound — tied together
  17. bat — the animal
  18. object — to protest
  19. tear — to rip
  20. bound — certain
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. tear — from crying
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. cold — an illness

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