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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. pit — a hole
  3. roll — a cake
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. roll — a list
  6. game — a match
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — an injury
  9. sharp — clever
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. game — wild animals
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. pit — in a race
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. tube — a container
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. tube — the underground

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