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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.

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 · scale · racket · wound · cell · spell · patient · land

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. spell — letters
  3. land — to come down
  4. pit — a hole
  5. land — ground
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. scale — in music
  8. land — a country
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. scale — size or range
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. spell — magic
  16. cell — a phone
  17. cell — in biology
  18. pit — in a race
  19. wound — an injury
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. spell — a short time

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