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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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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 ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. cold — not warm
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. rule — a law
  12. kid — child
  13. cold — an illness
  14. rule — government
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. ball — a dance
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. ball — a great time
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. wave — of the sea

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