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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  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. mate — to breed
  2. fork — in a road
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. swing — to play on
  5. march — the month
  6. march — music
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. swing — music
  9. march — the month
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. swing — in golf
  12. mate — a friend
  13. mate — a partner
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — not warm
  23. fork — to eat with
  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