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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 · mark · pitch · hand · content · swing · rash · roll

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. content — the amount
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. hand — help
  7. swing — in golf
  8. rash — hasty
  9. mark — a grade
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. rash — a series
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. roll — a cake
  14. swing — to play on
  15. roll — a list
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. mark — a trace
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. pitch — completely
  22. hand — in cards
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. swing — music

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