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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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. chip — to eat
  3. cold — not warm
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. date — the fruit
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. court — for sport
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. mark — a grade
  15. court — of law
  16. last — final
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. mark — a trace
  20. court — of a king
  21. chip — for betting
  22. last — finally
  23. last — to go on
  24. cold — an illness

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