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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. staff — a stick
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. wind — moving air
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. wind — moving air
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. staff — employees
  12. perch — the fish
  13. deal — to handle
  14. bat — the animal
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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