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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. rock — music
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. object — a thing
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. spring — a coil
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. object — an aim
  14. rock — a stone
  15. pound — a weight
  16. bear — the animal
  17. spring — the season
  18. spring — of water
  19. object — to protest
  20. kid — to tease
  21. file — a line of people
  22. bear — the animal
  23. file — a document
  24. file — a tool

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