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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. pitch — completely
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. ball — a dance
  7. kid — to tease
  8. kid — child
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. ball — a great time
  12. spring — the season
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. spring — a coil
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. cold — not warm
  20. mark — a trace
  21. cold — an illness
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. mark — a grade
  24. cabinet — ministers

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