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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: patient · cold · cap · saw · court · mouse · content · ground

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. content — happy
  3. cold — an illness
  4. ground — a position
  5. saw — the tool
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. court — of a king
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. cap — of ice
  10. saw — the tool
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. ground — the earth
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. content — the amount
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. cold — not warm
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. cap — a lid
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. ground — crushed
  23. cap — a hat
  24. court — of law

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