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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. board — to get on
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. bulb — for light
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. net — for catching
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. net — after costs
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. bulb — for light
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. cold — not warm
  17. plane — a tool
  18. shower — rain
  19. net — in sport
  20. cold — an illness
  21. shower — to wash
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. board — a committee

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