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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. plane — a tool
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. court — of a king
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. present — a gift
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. cold — an illness
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. court — of law
  13. chest — of your body
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. present — there
  16. cold — not warm
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. game — wild animals
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. present — the time now
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. court — for sport
  23. game — a match
  24. chest — a box

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