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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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Word bank
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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: current · mine · bulb · kid · stick · cabinet · chest · patient

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. chest — a box
  4. mine — for digging
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. bulb — for light
  10. bulb — for light
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. current — of water
  13. current — electric
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. kid — child
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. chest — of your body
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. chest — of your body
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. current — happening now

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