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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 120 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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. bore — to tire
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. snap — to click
  5. rest — what's left
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. rest — what's left
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. game — wild animals
  13. rest — a break
  14. game — a match
  15. wind — moving air
  16. kid — child
  17. pound — a weight
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. kid — to tease
  21. wind — moving air
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. bore — to drill
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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