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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 nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. pop — music
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. row — to paddle
  7. pop — soda
  8. row — a line
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. scale — size or range
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. kid — to tease
  13. scale — in music
  14. field — a subject
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. field — for sport
  20. pop — to visit
  21. fork — in a road
  22. field — farmland
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. kid — child

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