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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. hand — in cards
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. court — for sport
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. row — a line
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. capital — a city
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. court — of a king
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. capital — money
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. row — to paddle
  18. court — of law
  19. fork — in a road
  20. hand — help
  21. rush — hurry
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. straw — a straw man

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