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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 was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. game — a match
  4. pound — a weight
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. game — wild animals
  8. swing — music
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. kid — child
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. ball — a dance
  13. swing — in golf
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. kid — to tease
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. lean — to bend
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. swing — to play on
  23. lean — thin
  24. ball — a round shape

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