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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: stock · bulb · wave · snap · cold · patient · hand · kid

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. hand — help
  5. kid — to tease
  6. cold — not warm
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bulb — for light
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. stock — goods
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. cold — an illness
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. stock — shares
  20. bulb — for light
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. snap — to click
  24. kid — child

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