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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 nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. hand — in cards
  5. chest — of your body
  6. fall — to drop
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. degree — temperature
  9. wake — a trail
  10. hand — help
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. chest — of your body
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. degree — from a university
  17. degree — an amount
  18. fall — to drop
  19. deal — to handle
  20. fall — the season
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. chest — a box
  23. date — the fruit
  24. deal — a big deal

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