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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 120 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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. face — to point toward
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. rush — hurry
  6. bulb — for light
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. kid — to tease
  10. kid — child
  11. bulb — for light
  12. file — a line of people
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. hand — in cards
  16. face — part of the head
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. file — a document
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. game — a match
  21. face — to confront
  22. game — wild animals
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. file — a tool

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