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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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. staff — employees
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. staff — a stick
  5. bulb — for light
  6. spring — of water
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. staff — employees
  10. content — happy
  11. cold — not warm
  12. spring — a coil
  13. bulb — for light
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. march — the month
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. march — the month
  18. march — music
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. cold — an illness
  21. spring — the season
  22. content — the amount
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. bulb — of a plant

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