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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: band · land · content · patient · hand · lie · can · rash

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. content — the amount
  4. band — a music group
  5. rash — hasty
  6. hand — in cards
  7. band — a ring
  8. lie — to recline
  9. rash — a series
  10. hand — help
  11. can — a tin
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. can — to be able to
  14. land — a country
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. content — happy
  20. land — to come down
  21. land — ground
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. can — a tin

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