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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: content · bat · patient · file · cell · cap · pop · net

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  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. cell — in biology
  2. net — in sport
  3. pop — music
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. file — a document
  7. pop — to visit
  8. file — a tool
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. cap — a lid
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. pop — soda
  14. content — happy
  15. net — for catching
  16. file — a line of people
  17. cap — a hat
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. content — the amount
  20. cell — a phone
  21. net — after costs
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. cap — of ice
  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