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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. lean — thin
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. kid — child
  5. content — the amount
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. shower — to wash
  8. lean — to bend
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. shower — rain
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. fine — all right
  13. content — happy
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. bark — to shout
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. pitch — completely
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. kid — to tease

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