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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. track — to keep track
  3. track — a path
  4. cold — not warm
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. last — to go on
  7. rush — hurry
  8. root — of a word
  9. root — of a plant
  10. game — a match
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. cold — an illness
  14. branch — a division
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. last — finally
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. root — the cause
  20. track — a song
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. last — final
  24. game — wild animals

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