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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: deal · cold · chest · patient · key · kick

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. key — for a lock
  3. key — in music
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. cold — not warm
  7. key — the most important part
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — a box
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. deal — to handle
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. kick — in football
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. kick — with a leg

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