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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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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: march · cap · cold · content · arm · patient · drill · lash

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cap — a hat
  4. drill — the tool
  5. cold — an illness
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. march — the month
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. cap — of ice
  12. drill — army training
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. content — happy
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. content — the amount
  20. march — music
  21. march — the month
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. drill — a practice
  24. lash — to lash out

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