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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. rush — hurry
  6. rock — a stone
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. field — farmland
  9. wound — an injury
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. fine — high quality
  12. field — for sport
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. rock — music
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. kid — to tease
  22. kid — child
  23. field — a subject
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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