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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 nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. cell — a phone
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. last — to go on
  5. chair — a leader
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. bear — the animal
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. cell — in biology
  13. net — after costs
  14. net — in sport
  15. bear — the animal
  16. last — final
  17. net — for catching
  18. last — finally
  19. stock — goods
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. mine — for digging
  22. stock — shares
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. patient — a sick person

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