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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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. wind — moving air
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. shower — rain
  7. kid — child
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. kid — to tease
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. wind — moving air
  17. present — a gift
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. present — the time now
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. shower — to wash
  22. present — there
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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