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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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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: file · content · bound · patient · band · snap · mate · chair

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. content — the amount
  3. mate — to breed
  4. file — a document
  5. band — a ring
  6. file — a tool
  7. band — a music group
  8. bound — obliged
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. content — happy
  11. chair — a leader
  12. mate — a partner
  13. file — a line of people
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. bound — certain
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. snap — to click
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. bound — tied together

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