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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. drill — army training
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. pit — in a race
  6. shower — to wash
  7. file — a tool
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. file — a line of people
  10. drill — a practice
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. staff — employees
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. pit — a hole
  15. file — a document
  16. staff — employees
  17. staff — a stick
  18. shower — rain
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. wound — an injury
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. drill — the tool

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