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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. bark — to shout
  3. kid — to tease
  4. mug — a cup
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. cell — a phone
  7. file — a tool
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. file — a document
  13. file — a line of people
  14. date — the fruit
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. mug — to rob
  17. cell — in biology
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. mug — a face
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. kid — child
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. cell — in a prison

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