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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: chest · cold · patient · sharp · hand · bay · trunk · track

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. chest — a box
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. bay — to keep at bay
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — not warm
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. hand — in cards
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. track — a song
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. chest — of your body
  20. track — to keep track
  21. track — a path
  22. sharp — clever
  23. hand — help
  24. chest — of your body

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