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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. hand — in cards
  3. pop — music
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fall — to drop
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. pop — soda
  8. ground — the earth
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. ground — a position
  11. fall — the season
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. chest — of your body
  14. spring — the season
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. pop — to visit
  17. hand — help
  18. spring — of water
  19. chest — a box
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. ground — crushed
  23. spring — a coil
  24. chest — of your body

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