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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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. capital — money
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. row — a line
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. rest — what's left
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. rest — a break
  11. game — a match
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. game — wild animals
  14. tear — to rip
  15. rest — what's left
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. tear — from crying
  18. kid — to tease
  19. tear — from crying
  20. rush — hurry
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. capital — a city
  24. row — to paddle

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