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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. chest — a box
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. mine — for digging
  10. season — in sport
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. bass — the fish
  13. bass — low music
  14. vault — a safe
  15. cold — not warm
  16. chest — of your body
  17. chest — of your body
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. season — of the year
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. cold — the Cold War

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