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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: mouse · wound · content · cap · tube · fall · patient · row

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. row — a line
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. fall — the season
  5. tube — the underground
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. fall — to drop
  9. wound — an injury
  10. cap — of ice
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. content — the amount
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. cap — a lid
  15. tube — a container
  16. cap — a hat
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. wound — an injury
  21. row — to paddle
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. fall — to drop
  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