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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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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. wound — an injury
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. last — final
  8. fall — the season
  9. last — finally
  10. spring — a coil
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. fall — to drop
  14. last — to go on
  15. wound — an injury
  16. spring — the season
  17. fall — to drop
  18. wound — past of 'wind'

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