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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. row — a line
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. toast — bread
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. fall — the season
  9. snap — to click
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. cold — not warm
  12. fall — to drop
  13. row — to paddle
  14. fall — to drop
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. cold — an illness
  18. snap — to speak sharply

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