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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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. tear — from crying
  4. bore — to tire
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. craft — a skill
  7. craft — boats
  8. bass — low music
  9. bass — the fish
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. row — a line
  12. kid — to tease
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. bore — to drill
  19. tear — to rip
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. row — to paddle
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. kid — child
  24. tear — from crying

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