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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's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. staff — employees
  3. land — ground
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. staff — a stick
  6. court — of law
  7. band — a ring
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. band — a music group
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. land — to come down
  13. court — for sport
  14. perch — the fish
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. staff — employees
  18. kid — to tease
  19. court — of a king
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. land — a country
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. kid — child

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