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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. fine — high quality
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. cold — an illness
  6. row — to paddle
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. fine — all right
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. squash — to crush
  13. row — a line
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. cold — not warm
  16. squash — the sport
  17. scale — size or range
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. lean — thin
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. scale — in music
  23. pitch — completely
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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