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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 don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. court — of law
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. rock — a stone
  6. cold — not warm
  7. rock — music
  8. ground — crushed
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. capital — money
  12. ground — a position
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. game — wild animals
  15. game — a match
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. cold — an illness
  18. ground — the earth
  19. court — for sport
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. court — of a king
  24. capital — a city

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