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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. spell — magic
  6. band — a ring
  7. firm — a company
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. spell — letters
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. firm — steady
  14. chip — to eat
  15. firm — decided
  16. band — a music group
  17. chip — for betting
  18. wind — moving air
  19. bark — to shout
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. spell — a short time
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. wind — moving air
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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