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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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. cell — a phone
  3. cold — an illness
  4. rock — music
  5. rock — a stone
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. cold — not warm
  8. net — after costs
  9. prune — to trim
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. prune — to trim
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. perch — the fish
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. net — for catching
  19. toast — a drink to someone
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. toast — bread
  22. net — in sport
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. cell — in biology

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