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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. fine — all right
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. saw — the tool
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. snap — to click
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. race — the arms race
  9. bat — the animal
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. lie — to recline
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. race — a contest
  15. cold — an illness
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. fine — high quality
  18. cold — not warm
  19. saw — the tool
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. race — humankind
  24. fine — a penalty

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