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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. bass — the fish
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. ground — a position
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. race — the arms race
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. race — a contest
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. kid — to tease
  13. ground — crushed
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. race — humankind
  17. kid — child
  18. ground — the earth
  19. rash — a series
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. rash — hasty
  22. bass — low music
  23. pound — a weight
  24. mine — for digging

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