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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 124 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 nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. prune — to trim
  3. bass — the fish
  4. scale — size or range
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. roll — a list
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. sharp — clever
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. bass — low music
  13. scale — in music
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. roll — a cake
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. prune — to trim
  21. game — a match
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. game — wild animals

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