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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 nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. spring — a coil
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. wound — an injury
  8. rock — a stone
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. fork — in a road
  15. chair — a leader
  16. spring — the season
  17. rock — music
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. spring — of water
  20. cold — not warm
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. cold — an illness
  23. wound — an injury
  24. fork — a garden tool

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