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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. kid — child
  3. kid — to tease
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. game — wild animals
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — of your body
  10. wake — a trail
  11. cue — for pool
  12. chest — a box
  13. cue — a hint
  14. bark — to shout
  15. cue — a signal
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. pound — a weight
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. game — a match

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