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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: foot · patient · kid · bat · wake · bowl · content · mine

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. kid — to tease
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. content — the amount
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. mine — for digging
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. foot — a measure
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. content — happy
  20. wake — a trail
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. kid — child
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. patient — a sick person

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