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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. court — of law
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. court — of a king
  7. chest — of your body
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. cell — a phone
  10. cell — in biology
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. chest — a box
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. chest — of your body
  23. cold — an illness
  24. court — for sport

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