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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. face — to point toward
  3. swing — in golf
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. swing — music
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. swing — to play on
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. pop — soda
  12. hand — help
  13. hand — in cards
  14. stem — to come from
  15. face — part of the head
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. pop — music
  18. game — a match
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. cold — not warm
  21. face — to confront
  22. cold — an illness
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. pop — to visit

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