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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. cold — an illness
  3. last — to go on
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. bass — the fish
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. last — finally
  8. bass — low music
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. mate — a partner
  14. face — to confront
  15. cold — not warm
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. last — final
  18. face — part of the head
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. face — to point toward
  24. mate — to breed

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