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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 ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. cold — not warm
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. stock — goods
  8. hand — in cards
  9. stock — shares
  10. rest — what's left
  11. chair — a leader
  12. rest — a break
  13. hand — help
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. cold — an illness
  18. chair — to sit on

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