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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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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: face · deal · patient · roll · pitcher · cell · mark · cold

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. face — part of the head
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. deal — to handle
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. cell — in biology
  11. cold — not warm
  12. face — to point toward
  13. roll — a list
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. mark — a trace
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. mark — a grade
  19. face — to confront
  20. cold — an illness
  21. roll — a cake
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. cell — a phone
  24. cold — the Cold War

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