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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 124 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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. rest — what's left
  3. bulb — for light
  4. chest — of your body
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. rest — a break
  7. ball — a great time
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. ball — a dance
  10. chest — a box
  11. land — a country
  12. mate — a partner
  13. chest — of your body
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. mate — a friend
  16. land — ground
  17. land — to come down
  18. bulb — for light
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cold — not warm
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. mate — to breed
  24. patient — a sick person

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