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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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Word bank
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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 water is too ________________.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. mark — a grade
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. spring — a coil
  5. track — to keep track
  6. staff — employees
  7. march — the month
  8. track — a path
  9. spring — of water
  10. spring — the season
  11. spell — letters
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. mark — a trace
  15. staff — a stick
  16. march — the month
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. spell — magic
  20. track — a song
  21. spell — a short time
  22. cold — an illness
  23. march — music
  24. staff — employees

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