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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. shower — rain
  4. degree — an amount
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. toast — bread
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. bear — the animal
  13. kid — to tease
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. degree — temperature
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. bulb — for light
  18. kid — child
  19. bear — the animal
  20. shower — to wash
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. bulb — for light
  23. degree — from a university
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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