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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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. ground — crushed
  3. club — for golf
  4. spring — a coil
  5. club — for dancing
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. mug — a cup
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. spring — of water
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. cold — an illness
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. spring — the season
  17. ground — a position
  18. mug — to rob
  19. cold — not warm
  20. ground — the earth
  21. sharp — clever
  22. club — a group
  23. mug — a face
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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