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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. rest — what's left
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. roll — a cake
  6. bat — the animal
  7. spring — the season
  8. wind — moving air
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. shower — rain
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. roll — a list
  14. chip — for betting
  15. rest — a break
  16. wind — moving air
  17. chip — to eat
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. spring — of water
  21. spring — a coil
  22. rest — what's left
  23. shower — to wash
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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