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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 nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. kick — in football
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cell — a phone
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. capital — a city
  7. net — after costs
  8. cue — for pool
  9. cue — a hint
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. net — in sport
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. net — for catching
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cell — in biology
  21. cue — a signal
  22. capital — money
  23. cold — not warm
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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