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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. deal — to handle
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. hand — help
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. clip — a video
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. kid — child
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. kid — to tease
  15. spring — the season
  16. safe — a strongbox
  17. clip — to cut
  18. hand — in cards
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. clip — for paper
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. spring — a coil
  24. deal — an agreement

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