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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. race — a contest
  3. season — in sport
  4. foot — a measure
  5. race — the arms race
  6. clip — for paper
  7. spring — the season
  8. staff — employees
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. staff — employees
  11. staff — a stick
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. spring — of water
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. clip — to cut
  17. cold — not warm
  18. spring — a coil
  19. season — of the year
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. clip — a video
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. race — humankind

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