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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. cell — a phone
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chest — a box
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. chest — of your body
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. rash — a series
  12. spring — a coil
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. rash — hasty
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. spring — of water
  22. cell — in biology
  23. spring — the season
  24. rash — on the skin

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