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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. bat — the animal
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. bank — for money
  10. capital — a city
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. capital — money
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bank — for money
  16. saw — the tool
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. cold — an illness
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. wake — a trail
  24. bank — of a river

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