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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. mine — for digging
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. fall — to drop
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. wake — a trail
  15. game — a match
  16. kick — in football
  17. game — wild animals
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. fall — the season
  20. bat — the animal
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. fall — to drop
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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