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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  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. saw — the tool
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. fall — the season
  4. wound — an injury
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. fall — to drop
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. saw — the tool
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. fall — to drop
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. wound — an injury
  16. row — a line
  17. cold — not warm
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. row — to paddle
  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