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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: patient · cell · present · date · wind · scale · stick · pound

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. present — there
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. cell — a phone
  6. date — the fruit
  7. wind — moving air
  8. present — a gift
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. pound — a weight
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. wind — moving air
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. scale — in music
  16. present — the time now
  17. cell — in biology
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. scale — size or range
  23. pound — to hit hard
  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