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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. The ________________ went through the wall.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. kid — to tease
  4. hand — help
  5. stand — to bear
  6. rest — what's left
  7. kid — child
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. rest — a break
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. rest — what's left
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. row — a line
  18. row — to paddle
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. nail — for a hammer
  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