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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 116 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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. wound — an injury
  5. ball — a dance
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. hand — help
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. wake — a trail
  13. ball — a great time
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. kid — to tease
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. craft — a skill
  18. wound — an injury
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. hand — in cards
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. craft — boats
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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