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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 120 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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. ground — crushed
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. land — ground
  10. bark — to shout
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. kid — to tease
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. ground — the earth
  20. land — to come down
  21. land — a country
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. ground — a position
  24. lash — to lash out

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