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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. saw — the tool
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. shower — rain
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. land — ground
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chest — of your body
  14. dip — to sink
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. land — to come down
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. saw — the tool
  22. shower — to wash
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. land — a country

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