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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. net — in sport
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. track — a song
  7. track — to keep track
  8. snap — to click
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — from crying
  11. tear — to rip
  12. net — after costs
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. kid — to tease
  15. net — for catching
  16. dip — to sink
  17. track — a path
  18. root — of a word
  19. root — the cause
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. root — of a plant
  23. kid — child
  24. dip — a sauce

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