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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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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 · rest · fine · date · chest · charge · fork · patient

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. fine — all right
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. chest — of your body
  5. rest — what's left
  6. rest — a break
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. charge — electricity
  9. chest — of your body
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. charge — in control
  13. fine — high quality
  14. charge — a price
  15. chest — a box
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. fork — in a road
  21. rest — what's left
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. date — the fruit
  24. cold — an illness

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