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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: present · content · chair · patient · bat · tear · mate · mine

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. mate — a friend
  3. present — a gift
  4. chair — a leader
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. mate — to breed
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. mine — for digging
  10. content — the amount
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. tear — to rip
  13. content — happy
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. tear — from crying
  18. present — there
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. present — the time now
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. mate — a partner
  23. tear — from crying
  24. chair — a professorship

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