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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. swing — in golf
  4. last — to go on
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. game — a match
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. swing — to play on
  11. wound — an injury
  12. stock — goods
  13. game — wild animals
  14. stock — shares
  15. swing — music
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. last — final
  18. land — to come down
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. last — finally
  22. land — a country
  23. land — ground
  24. patient — a sick person

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