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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 116 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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468
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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. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. cell — a phone
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. face — to point toward
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. season — of the year
  9. face — part of the head
  10. key — the most important part
  11. cell — in biology
  12. perch — the fish
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. game — wild animals
  15. key — for a lock
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. key — in music
  18. mine — for digging
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. game — a match
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. face — to confront

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