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

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. kid — to tease
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. cell — a phone
  5. mark — a grade
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. kid — child
  12. mark — a trace
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. net — after costs
  15. net — for catching
  16. fork — in a road
  17. net — in sport
  18. cell — in biology

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