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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: prune · bat · wind · stick · cold · land · cabinet · patient

  1. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — to attach or keep to
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. land — a country
  4. wind — moving air
  5. prune — to trim
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. land — to come down
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. prune — to trim
  16. cold — an illness
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. cold — not warm
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. land — ground
  23. bat — the animal
  24. wind — moving air

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