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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 · prune · court · pass · lie · mark · patient · staff

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. prune — to trim
  5. cold — not warm
  6. lie — to recline
  7. prune — to trim
  8. staff — employees
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. mark — a trace
  12. court — of law
  13. staff — a stick
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. cold — an illness
  16. mark — a grade
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. court — of a king
  21. pass — a permit
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. pass — to succeed
  24. staff — employees

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