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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: current · pitcher · saw · chest · patient · toast · bound · bat

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. bound — tied together
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. chest — of your body
  8. saw — the tool
  9. current — electric
  10. toast — bread
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. bound — obliged
  13. bound — certain
  14. chest — of your body
  15. current — happening now
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. saw — the tool
  21. bat — the animal
  22. chest — a box
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. current — of water

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