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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cold · charge · tear · cue · patient · race

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. cold — not warm
  3. tear — from crying
  4. cue — for pool
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. charge — in control
  7. charge — a price
  8. race — a contest
  9. race — humankind
  10. cue — a signal
  11. tear — from crying
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cue — a hint
  15. race — the arms race
  16. tear — to rip
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. patient — a sick person

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