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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. rash — hasty
  3. land — a country
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. cell — a phone
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. squash — the sport
  12. squash — to crush
  13. land — to come down
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. snap — to click
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. rash — a series
  23. cell — in biology
  24. land — ground

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