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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. chest — of your body
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. last — final
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. chest — a box
  7. bear — the animal
  8. chest — of your body
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. capital — a city
  11. last — finally
  12. roll — a cake
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. last — to go on
  15. ball — a great time
  16. bear — the animal
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. cell — a phone
  20. capital — money
  21. cell — in biology
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. roll — a list
  24. ball — a dance

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