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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. spring — of water
  4. cold — not warm
  5. scale — size or range
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. chest — a box
  8. chest — of your body
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. ground — the earth
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. ground — a position
  16. spring — a coil
  17. ground — crushed
  18. cold — an illness
  19. spring — the season
  20. wake — a trail
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. chest — of your body
  24. racket — for tennis

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