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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 got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. rule — a law
  3. land — a country
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. spring — of water
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. land — ground
  9. bear — the animal
  10. bear — the animal
  11. kid — child
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. spring — a coil
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. rule — government
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. kid — to tease
  18. hand — help
  19. spring — the season
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. pitch — completely
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. land — to come down

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