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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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. swing — to play on
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. rule — a law
  7. fork — in a road
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. dip — to sink
  10. swing — in golf
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. rule — government
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. swing — music
  20. bat — the animal
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. row — to paddle
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. row — a line

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