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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: chest · pitch · cold · patient · race · stem

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  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. patient — a sick person
  2. race — humankind
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. cold — an illness
  5. chest — a box
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. chest — of your body
  8. pitch — completely
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. race — a contest
  11. chest — of your body
  12. cold — not warm
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. stem — to come from
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. race — the arms race
  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