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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. fall — the season
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fall — to drop
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. content — the amount
  8. bass — low music
  9. cue — a signal
  10. cue — a hint
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. bass — the fish
  13. season — of the year
  14. shower — rain
  15. shower — to wash
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. file — a tool
  19. season — in sport
  20. file — a line of people
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. content — happy
  23. cue — for pool
  24. file — a document

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