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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. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. wake — a trail
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. net — for catching
  7. game — wild animals
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. net — after costs
  10. game — a match
  11. face — to point toward
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. face — to confront
  14. face — part of the head
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. file — a tool
  18. saw — the tool
  19. saw — the tool
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. file — a document
  22. net — in sport
  23. file — a line of people
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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