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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 · chest · cell · wound · patient · lie · hand · wind

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. wound — an injury
  3. kid — child
  4. hand — in cards
  5. chest — a box
  6. lie — to recline
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wind — moving air
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. kid — to tease
  14. chest — of your body
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. cell — a phone
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wound — an injury
  20. hand — help
  21. chest — of your body
  22. cell — in biology
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. patient — a sick person

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