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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  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. spring — a coil
  2. face — to confront
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. face — to point toward
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. spring — of water
  8. kid — child
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. kid — to tease
  11. swing — music
  12. swing — in golf
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. kick — in football
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. spring — the season
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. face — part of the head
  22. cold — not warm
  23. swing — to play on
  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