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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: patient · staff · lash · mouse · bat · calf · content · cold

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. staff — a stick
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. cold — not warm
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. staff — employees
  10. staff — employees
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. content — happy
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. content — the amount
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. bat — the animal
  24. calf — a young 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