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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. last — finally
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. last — to go on
  7. capital — money
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. capital — a city
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. cold — not warm
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. kid — to tease
  18. kid — child
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. land — a country
  21. land — ground
  22. stem — to come from
  23. land — to come down
  24. last — final

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