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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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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 · pitcher · fall · bat · kick · season · chest · present

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. present — the time now
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. chest — of your body
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. fall — to drop
  12. present — a gift
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. chest — a box
  15. fall — to drop
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. kick — in football
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. fall — the season
  21. chest — of your body
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. present — there
  24. season — in sport

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