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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: wound · suit · spring · net · tube · patient · mine · content

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. content — the amount
  3. wound — an injury
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. net — after costs
  6. suit — clothes
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. tube — a container
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. suit — to fit
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. spring — the season
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. net — in sport
  18. spring — of water
  19. tube — the underground
  20. suit — in cards
  21. mine — for digging
  22. net — for catching
  23. spring — a coil
  24. wound — an injury

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