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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.

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: ball · chest · race · last · bear · scale · patient · spell

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. spell — a short time
  3. last — final
  4. scale — in music
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. race — the arms race
  7. chest — of your body
  8. bear — the animal
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. ball — a dance
  12. race — humankind
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. race — a contest
  15. chest — a box
  16. spell — letters
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. scale — size or range
  19. last — finally
  20. spell — magic
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. chest — of your body
  23. bear — the animal
  24. last — to go on

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