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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 nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. kid — to tease
  4. prune — to trim
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. prune — to trim
  8. game — wild animals
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. drill — army training
  13. drill — a practice
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. land — ground
  16. land — to come down
  17. drill — the tool
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. game — a match
  22. kick — in football
  23. kid — child
  24. land — a country

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