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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 train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. kid — child
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. kid — to tease
  7. bore — to tire
  8. stand — to bear
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. clip — for paper
  11. clip — a video
  12. rash — a series
  13. rash — hasty
  14. face — to point toward
  15. face — to confront
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. clip — to cut
  22. bore — to drill
  23. face — part of the head
  24. patient — a sick person

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