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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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 — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. ground — the earth
  5. cell — a phone
  6. bound — certain
  7. charge — electricity
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. ground — crushed
  10. charge — in control
  11. net — in sport
  12. net — for catching
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. bound — obliged
  15. net — after costs
  16. wound — an injury
  17. charge — a price
  18. bound — tied together
  19. wound — an injury
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. ground — a position
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. kid — to tease
  24. cell — in biology

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