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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. content — happy
  3. spell — magic
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. current — of water
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. current — electric
  9. tear — to rip
  10. perch — the fish
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. spell — letters
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. hand — help
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. tear — from crying
  18. spell — a short time
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. current — happening now
  21. content — the amount
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. tear — from crying
  24. straw — dry grass

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