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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. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. tear — from crying
  5. drill — a practice
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. drill — army training
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. snap — to click
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. drill — the tool
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. pop — soda
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. tear — to rip
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. hand — help
  20. pop — music
  21. tear — from crying
  22. hand — in cards
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. pop — to visit

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