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

Word bank: chest · cold · net · rest · rule · patient

  1. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. cold — an illness
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chest — of your body
  7. rule — a law
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. net — after costs
  10. rest — a break
  11. rest — what's left
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. chest — a box
  14. net — for catching
  15. cold — not warm
  16. rule — government
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. rest — what's left

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