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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. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. file — a tool
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. can — a tin
  5. spring — the season
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. can — a tin
  11. can — to be able to
  12. spring — a coil
  13. file — a line of people
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. pitch — completely
  16. kid — child
  17. root — the cause
  18. root — of a plant
  19. spring — of water
  20. root — of a word
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. kid — to tease
  23. file — a document
  24. pitch — a sports field

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