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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 felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. hand — in cards
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. hand — help
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. shower — to wash
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. wound — an injury
  10. chest — of your body
  11. can — to be able to
  12. drill — the tool
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. chest — a box
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. shower — rain
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. wound — an injury
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. drill — a practice
  21. drill — army training
  22. can — a tin
  23. bark — to shout
  24. can — a tin

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