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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. net — after costs
  3. net — in sport
  4. fork — in a road
  5. kid — child
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. prune — to trim
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. prune — to trim
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. club — for dancing
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. kid — to tease
  18. club — a group
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. pound — a weight
  21. net — for catching
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. cold — an illness

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