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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. bat — the animal
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. staff — employees
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cap — a lid
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. sharp — clever
  12. cold — an illness
  13. staff — employees
  14. cap — a hat
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. toast — bread
  17. saw — the tool
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. saw — the tool
  20. cold — not warm
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. staff — a stick
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. cap — of ice

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