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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 ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. cold — not warm
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. mine — for digging
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. band — a ring
  9. land — a country
  10. cold — an illness
  11. saw — the tool
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. land — ground
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. band — a music group
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. saw — the tool
  22. pitch — completely
  23. fork — in a road
  24. land — to come down

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