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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. kid — child
  6. rest — a break
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. hand — help
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. dip — to sink
  12. hand — in cards
  13. drill — a practice
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. drill — the tool
  16. degree — an amount
  17. bark — to shout
  18. rest — what's left
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. rest — what's left
  21. degree — temperature
  22. degree — from a university
  23. drill — army training
  24. dip — a sauce

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