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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 can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. cell — a phone
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. last — final
  5. land — to come down
  6. bore — to drill
  7. last — finally
  8. mate — a partner
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. pop — soda
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. pop — to visit
  13. bore — to tire
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. pop — music
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. last — to go on
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. mate — a friend
  21. land — a country
  22. cell — in biology
  23. mate — to breed
  24. land — ground

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