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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. kid — child
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. shower — to wash
  9. kid — to tease
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. perch — the fish
  16. capital — a city
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. rock — music
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. shower — rain
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. rock — a stone
  23. mine — for digging
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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