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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. mug — to rob
  3. mug — a face
  4. cold — not warm
  5. rash — a series
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. wound — an injury
  8. rash — hasty
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. mug — a cup
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. wound — an injury
  13. cold — an illness
  14. swing — to play on
  15. drill — the tool
  16. swing — in golf
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. drill — army training
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. last — finally
  22. swing — music
  23. last — to go on
  24. drill — a practice

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