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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bat · cabinet · file · content · game · patient · wound · present

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. present — there
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. file — a tool
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. content — happy
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. file — a document
  12. file — a line of people
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. wound — an injury
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. content — the amount
  19. present — the time now
  20. game — wild animals
  21. present — a gift
  22. wound — an injury
  23. game — a match
  24. bat — the animal

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