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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. cold — not warm
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. face — to point toward
  8. kid — child
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. cold — an illness
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. scale — in music
  15. scale — size or range
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. face — to confront
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. stem — to come from
  22. wake — a trail
  23. face — part of the head
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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