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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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. bore — to drill
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. file — a line of people
  7. chair — a leader
  8. dip — to sink
  9. bore — to tire
  10. march — the month
  11. rash — hasty
  12. rash — a series
  13. land — ground
  14. march — the month
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. file — a document
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. land — a country
  20. file — a tool
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. march — music
  24. land — to come down

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