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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 116 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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. last — to go on
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. mug — a face
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. craft — boats
  8. wound — an injury
  9. mug — a cup
  10. mug — to rob
  11. game — a match
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. craft — a skill
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. row — a line
  17. wound — an injury
  18. row — to paddle
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. fine — all right
  21. game — wild animals
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. last — final
  24. last — finally

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