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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. club — a group
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bear — the animal
  9. hand — in cards
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bear — the animal
  13. sharp — clever
  14. club — for golf
  15. ball — a great time
  16. ball — a dance
  17. club — for dancing
  18. hand — help
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. rash — a series
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. patient — a sick person

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