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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: kid · rash · patient · mine · cell · hide

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. cell — a phone
  7. cell — in biology
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. rash — a series
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. mine — for digging
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. kid — child
  16. kid — to tease
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. 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