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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. file — a line of people
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. key — for a lock
  8. race — humankind
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. hand — in cards
  11. craft — boats
  12. file — a tool
  13. mine — for digging
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. craft — a skill
  16. hand — help
  17. race — a contest
  18. pitch — completely
  19. key — in music
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. file — a document
  23. key — the most important part
  24. race — the arms race

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