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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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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: cold · ground · nail · march · cell · spell · wake · patient

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. spell — letters
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. march — the month
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. spell — a short time
  7. cell — a phone
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. ground — a position
  13. cold — an illness
  14. spell — magic
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. cold — not warm
  18. ground — crushed
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. ground — the earth
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. march — music
  23. march — the month
  24. wake — a trail

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