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

Word bank: bat · cue · charge · patient · season · cold

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cue — a signal
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. cue — a hint
  6. charge — a price
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. cue — for pool
  12. charge — electricity
  13. bat — the animal
  14. cold — not warm
  15. season — of the year
  16. charge — in control
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. season — in sport

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