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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. land — to come down
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. land — a country
  8. track — to keep track
  9. pop — music
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. track — a song
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. bat — the animal
  17. land — ground
  18. pop — to visit
  19. snap — to click
  20. cold — not warm
  21. track — a path
  22. pop — soda
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. cold — an illness

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