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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  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. hand — help
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. can — to be able to
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — the tool
  10. can — a tin
  11. tube — a container
  12. hand — in cards
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. rush — hurry
  17. tube — the underground
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. can — a tin
  20. cold — an illness
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. cold — not warm
  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