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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 116 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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. spring — a coil
  3. bound — certain
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. fall — the season
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. degree — from a university
  12. spring — of water
  13. kick — in football
  14. fall — to drop
  15. degree — an amount
  16. fall — to drop
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. degree — temperature
  20. bound — tied together
  21. wax — to grow
  22. spring — the season
  23. hand — in cards
  24. bound — obliged

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