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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. present — the time now
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. present — a gift
  5. spring — the season
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. spring — a coil
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. rule — government
  11. present — there
  12. spring — of water
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. kid — child
  15. branch — a division
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. rule — a law
  24. coach — a trainer

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