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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: chest · pitch · cold · patient · race · stem · season · stick

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. season — in sport
  3. race — a contest
  4. chest — of your body
  5. race — the arms race
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. cold — an illness
  8. season — of the year
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. stem — to come from
  11. chest — a box
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. chest — of your body
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. pitch — completely
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. cold — not warm
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. race — humankind

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