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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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468
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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. kid — child
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. capital — a city
  8. spring — of water
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. kid — to tease
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. spring — a coil
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. rush — hurry
  15. spring — the season
  16. pound — a weight
  17. kick — in football
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. wind — moving air
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. capital — money

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