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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: straw · file · bass · game · root · hand · pitcher · patient

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. file — a line of people
  4. file — a tool
  5. file — a document
  6. game — a match
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. game — wild animals
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. root — the cause
  15. root — of a plant
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. bass — the fish
  21. root — of a word
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. hand — in cards
  24. bass — low music

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