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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 124 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. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. rule — government
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. game — wild animals
  6. net — for catching
  7. cell — in biology
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. net — after costs
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. net — in sport
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. rule — a law
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. cell — a phone
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. stem — to come from
  19. lean — to bend
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. lean — thin
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. game — a match

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