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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. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. wound — an injury
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. vault — a safe
  8. hand — in cards
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. wound — an injury
  11. row — to paddle
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. mine — for digging
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. hand — help
  19. saw — the tool
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. row — a line
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. saw — the tool

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