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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  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. game — wild animals
  2. mine — for digging
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. rash — a series
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. last — to go on
  7. last — finally
  8. game — a match
  9. last — final
  10. hand — in cards
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. rash — hasty
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. hand — help
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. patient — a sick person
  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