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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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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: season · court · temple · cold · fall · saw · patient · pitch

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. saw — the tool
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. fall — to drop
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. season — in sport
  8. season — of the year
  9. cold — an illness
  10. pitch — completely
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. court — for sport
  13. fall — to drop
  14. cold — not warm
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. court — of law
  17. saw — the tool
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. court — of a king
  20. fall — the season
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. season — to add flavour

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