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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. cold — not warm
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. chair — a leader
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. hand — in cards
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. stand — to bear
  16. file — a tool
  17. cold — an illness
  18. hand — help
  19. file — a line of people
  20. file — a document
  21. bulb — for light
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. bulb — for light

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