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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 120 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: bass · land · season · content · patient · spell · last · safe

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  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. season — in sport
  2. content — the amount
  3. land — ground
  4. bass — the fish
  5. safe — a strongbox
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. last — finally
  9. spell — letters
  10. last — final
  11. spell — a short time
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. land — a country
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. season — of the year
  17. last — to go on
  18. land — to come down
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. spell — magic
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. content — happy
  23. bass — low music
  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