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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 116 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 nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. stock — shares
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. stand — to bear
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. chair — a leader
  9. face — to confront
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. face — part of the head
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. clip — to cut
  16. stock — goods
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. clip — for paper
  21. clip — a video
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. bat — the animal
  24. face — to point toward

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