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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: mate · patient · rash · chest · tear · kid

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. chest — a box
  4. tear — to rip
  5. tear — from crying
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. mate — to breed
  8. mate — a friend
  9. kid — child
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. mate — a partner
  12. rash — a series
  13. chest — of your body
  14. rash — hasty
  15. kid — to tease
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. chest — of your body
  18. tear — from crying

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