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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 120 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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. bat — the animal
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. track — a path
  5. cold — an illness
  6. pass — a permit
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. can — to be able to
  9. band — a music group
  10. press — a publisher
  11. track — to keep track
  12. cold — not warm
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. press — to push
  15. press — newspapers
  16. band — a ring
  17. can — a tin
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. track — a song
  21. can — a tin
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. bat — for baseball

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