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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. spring — a coil
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. spring — of water
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. row — to paddle
  16. cap — a hat
  17. cap — a lid
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. cap — of ice
  20. row — a line
  21. sharp — clever
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. spring — the season

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