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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. cell — a phone
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. cell — in biology
  5. march — the month
  6. ground — crushed
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. land — ground
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. cold — not warm
  13. march — music
  14. march — the month
  15. rash — hasty
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. ground — the earth
  18. mark — a grade
  19. land — a country
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. cold — an illness
  22. ground — a position
  23. land — to come down
  24. mark — a trace

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