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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. cold — not warm
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. key — for a lock
  6. key — in music
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. mark — a trace
  9. bore — to drill
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. mark — a grade
  13. key — the most important part
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. bore — to tire
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. cold — an illness
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. season — of the year
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. wound — an injury
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. wound — an injury

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