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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 water is too ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. present — there
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. fall — to drop
  6. object — a thing
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. kid — to tease
  9. present — a gift
  10. fall — the season
  11. prune — to trim
  12. object — to protest
  13. prune — to trim
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. object — an aim
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. cold — an illness
  19. fall — to drop
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. present — the time now
  22. pit — in a race
  23. kid — child
  24. pit — a hole

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