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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. degree — an amount
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. chest — of your body
  6. kid — child
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. branch — a division
  9. degree — from a university
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. chest — of your body
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. chest — a box
  18. wax — to grow
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. degree — temperature
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. kid — to tease

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