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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. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. game — a match
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. cold — an illness
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. shower — to wash
  13. ball — a dance
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. ball — a great time
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. cold — not warm
  19. shower — rain
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. game — wild animals
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. mine — for digging

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