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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 116 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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  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. chair — a professorship
  2. mate — a friend
  3. cold — an illness
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. stem — to come from
  6. march — the month
  7. spring — the season
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. cold — not warm
  11. chair — a leader
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. march — the month
  16. mate — to breed
  17. spring — of water
  18. march — music
  19. spring — a coil
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. mate — a partner
  23. stem — of a plant
  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