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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. pit — in a race
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. cold — not warm
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. pit — a hole
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. field — farmland
  16. sharp — clever
  17. field — for sport
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wake — a trail
  21. field — a subject
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. cold — an illness
  24. wound — an injury

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