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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. hand — help
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. wound — an injury
  6. cap — of ice
  7. fork — in a road
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cap — a lid
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. cold — not warm
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cap — a hat
  21. hand — in cards
  22. snap — to click
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. wound — an injury

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