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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.

Make a worksheet

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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. file — a document
  7. field — for sport
  8. bound — tied together
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. bound — certain
  12. file — a tool
  13. kid — child
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. field — farmland
  16. bound — obliged
  17. field — a subject
  18. file — a line of people

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