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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: fall · jam · content · ball · cold · patient · spell · snap

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. spell — a short time
  3. ball — a dance
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. jam — in traffic
  10. content — happy
  11. spell — letters
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. content — the amount
  14. fall — to drop
  15. fall — to drop
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. fall — the season
  18. ball — a great time
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. spell — magic
  23. snap — to click
  24. cold — not warm

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