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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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468
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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. content — happy
  3. mate — to breed
  4. club — for dancing
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. prune — to trim
  7. chair — a leader
  8. cold — not warm
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. prune — to trim
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. content — the amount
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. club — for golf
  18. snap — to click
  19. club — a group
  20. mate — a partner
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. mate — a friend
  24. cold — the Cold War

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