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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. last — finally
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. last — to go on
  5. swing — in golf
  6. saw — the tool
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — a box
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. hand — help
  12. swing — to play on
  13. hand — in cards
  14. cold — an illness
  15. chest — of your body
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. cold — not warm
  21. pitch — completely
  22. swing — music
  23. last — final
  24. saw — the tool

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