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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.

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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: cap · cold · patient · object · hand · wake · pit · row

  1. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. cold — an illness
  3. pit — a hole
  4. cap — of ice
  5. cold — not warm
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. pit — in a race
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. hand — in cards
  13. wake — a trail
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. cap — a lid
  17. row — a line
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. object — to protest
  20. row — to paddle
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. cap — a hat
  23. hand — help
  24. object — an aim

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