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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. mate — a partner
  4. craft — boats
  5. craft — a skill
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. game — wild animals
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. game — a match
  16. mate — a friend
  17. kid — child
  18. capital — money
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. kid — to tease
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. mate — to breed
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. capital — a city

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