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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 116 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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. fine — high quality
  4. cold — not warm
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. cold — an illness
  9. saw — the tool
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. fine — all right
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. saw — the tool
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. pass — a permit
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. bowl — a football final

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