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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. spring — a coil
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. wound — an injury
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. net — in sport
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. spring — the season
  9. kid — to tease
  10. wound — an injury
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. net — for catching
  14. spring — of water
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. face — to point toward
  19. face — part of the head
  20. net — after costs
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. face — to confront
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. patient — a sick person

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