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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: patient · face · squash · craft · bat · game · dip · present

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. face — to confront
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. craft — a skill
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. present — a gift
  7. craft — boats
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. bat — the animal
  11. dip — to sink
  12. game — a match
  13. squash — to crush
  14. present — the time now
  15. face — part of the head
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. game — wild animals
  18. face — to point toward
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. squash — the sport
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. patient — a sick person

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