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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 old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. club — a group
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. cell — in biology
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. cell — a phone
  8. shower — rain
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. stock — shares
  11. season — of the year
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. stock — goods
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. club — for golf
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. staff — employees
  18. shower — to wash
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. staff — employees
  23. season — in sport
  24. club — for dancing

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