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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. ground — a position
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. kid — to tease
  6. key — the most important part
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. ground — the earth
  9. kid — child
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. key — in music
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. branch — a division
  16. ground — crushed
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. row — to paddle
  19. row — a line
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. fall — to drop
  22. fall — the season
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. key — for a lock

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