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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: pit · patient · cold · net · pitcher · fan · bowl · row

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. pit — in a race
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. pit — a hole
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. net — after costs
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. net — for catching
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. row — a line
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. net — in sport
  22. row — to paddle
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — an illness

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