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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 120 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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. chest — a box
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. wind — moving air
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. bat — the animal
  9. court — for sport
  10. court — of law
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. wind — moving air
  13. rash — a series
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. chest — of your body
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. net — for catching
  19. net — in sport
  20. rash — hasty
  21. net — after costs
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. chest — of your body
  24. court — of a king

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