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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. land — a country
  4. cold — an illness
  5. pitch — completely
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. cold — not warm
  8. snap — to click
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. stock — shares
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. drill — the tool
  13. drill — a practice
  14. ground — a position
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. stock — goods
  17. drill — army training
  18. ground — the earth
  19. ground — crushed
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. land — to come down
  24. pitch — a sports field

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