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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. ground — crushed
  3. ground — a position
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. snap — to click
  6. mine — for digging
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. tube — a container
  12. spring — of water
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. ground — the earth
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. ruler — a monarch
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. spring — a coil
  22. pound — a weight
  23. spring — the season
  24. pound — for dogs

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