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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 office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. mark — a trace
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. cold — not warm
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. staff — a stick
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. clip — for paper
  10. clip — to cut
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. chair — a leader
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. cold — an illness
  16. staff — employees
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. pass — a permit
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. clip — a video
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. mark — a grade

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