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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 120 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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. face — to point toward
  5. staff — employees
  6. hand — help
  7. hand — in cards
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. track — a path
  13. face — part of the head
  14. kid — to tease
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. face — to confront
  19. staff — employees
  20. track — a song
  21. track — to keep track
  22. staff — a stick
  23. kid — child
  24. bat — the animal

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