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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: bat · wound · charge · rock · content · pitcher · swing · patient

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. content — the amount
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. content — happy
  5. charge — electricity
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. rock — a stone
  8. swing — to play on
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. rock — music
  11. bat — the animal
  12. swing — music
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. charge — a price
  15. wound — an injury
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. swing — in golf
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. charge — in control

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