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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 party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. cell — a phone
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. squash — the sport
  6. squash — to crush
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. cold — an illness
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. rash — hasty
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. cold — not warm
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. sharp — clever
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. cell — in biology
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. pound — a weight
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. patient — a sick person

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