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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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. bat — the animal
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. prune — to trim
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. chair — a leader
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. prune — to trim
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. drill — the tool
  18. pit — a hole
  19. cell — a phone
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. pit — in a race
  22. drill — a practice
  23. drill — army training
  24. cell — in biology

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