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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 ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. pass — a permit
  5. bound — certain
  6. prune — to trim
  7. wind — moving air
  8. bound — obliged
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. hand — in cards
  11. mine — for digging
  12. hand — help
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. bound — tied together
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. prune — to trim
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. wind — moving air
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. hand — part of the body

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