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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. hand — help
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. row — to paddle
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. bass — low music
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. key — the most important part
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. hand — in cards
  12. face — to point toward
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. bass — the fish
  18. key — for a lock
  19. cell — a phone
  20. cell — in biology
  21. face — part of the head
  22. key — in music
  23. face — to confront
  24. row — a line

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