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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. game — wild animals
  3. land — to come down
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. last — final
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. game — a match
  10. last — finally
  11. bear — the animal
  12. bat — the animal
  13. staff — a stick
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. staff — employees
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. land — ground
  19. last — to go on
  20. bear — the animal
  21. land — a country
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. staff — employees
  24. bat — in an idiom

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