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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. kid — to tease
  6. chest — of your body
  7. capital — a city
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. lean — to bend
  11. chest — a box
  12. jam — in traffic
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. snap — to click
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. saw — the tool
  18. saw — the tool
  19. capital — money
  20. chest — of your body
  21. kid — child
  22. jam — to spread on bread
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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