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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. staff — a stick
  3. shower — to wash
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. net — in sport
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. date — the fruit
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. rule — a law
  13. net — for catching
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. shower — rain
  19. rule — government
  20. staff — employees
  21. net — after costs
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. patient — a sick person

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