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

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. drill — army training
  3. kid — to tease
  4. lean — thin
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. drill — a practice
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. drill — the tool
  10. lean — to bend
  11. hand — help
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. rash — hasty
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. rash — a series
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. hand — in cards

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