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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. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a part of the sea
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. root — of a word
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. game — a match
  10. game — wild animals
  11. wind — moving air
  12. file — a tool
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — not warm
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. file — a document
  19. root — the cause
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. file — a line of people
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. root — of a plant
  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