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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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. cell — a phone
  3. pit — a hole
  4. bore — to tire
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. pit — in a race
  8. bore — to drill
  9. last — final
  10. last — finally
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. cell — in biology
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. last — to go on
  16. net — for catching
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. kid — to tease
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. net — in sport
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. net — after costs
  24. kid — child

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