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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 120 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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. chair — a leader
  4. file — a line of people
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. file — a tool
  7. mark — a trace
  8. file — a document
  9. spring — a coil
  10. mark — a grade
  11. game — a match
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. spring — the season
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. branch — a division
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. pop — music
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. pop — soda
  23. spring — of water
  24. pop — to visit

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