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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: shower · bay · cap · key · spell · patient · content · pit

  1. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. cap — a hat
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. shower — rain
  5. shower — to wash
  6. spell — letters
  7. pit — a hole
  8. content — the amount
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. pit — in a race
  11. cap — a lid
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. cap — of ice
  14. spell — magic
  15. key — in music
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. key — the most important part
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. content — happy
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. spell — a short time

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