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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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Word bank
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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. chest — a box
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. cold — not warm
  6. pit — a hole
  7. rest — a break
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. row — a line
  11. pit — in a race
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. rest — what's left
  14. field — for sport
  15. row — to paddle
  16. lean — to bend
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. lean — thin
  19. chest — of your body
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. field — a subject
  22. rest — what's left
  23. field — farmland
  24. cold — an illness

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