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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. perch — the fish
  4. drill — the tool
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. mug — a cup
  7. spell — letters
  8. game — a match
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. spell — a short time
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. mug — a face
  13. hand — in cards
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. hand — help
  17. drill — army training
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. mug — to rob
  21. spell — magic
  22. sharp — clever
  23. drill — a practice
  24. perch — for a bird

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