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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. sharp — clever
  5. kid — child
  6. hand — help
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. kid — to tease
  16. hand — in cards
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. mark — a grade
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. mark — a trace
  24. sharp — exactly

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