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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: patient · chest · net · craft · pitcher · stock · kid · key

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. craft — boats
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. craft — a skill
  6. stock — shares
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. net — in sport
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. chest — of your body
  11. stock — goods
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. key — in music
  15. net — after costs
  16. chest — of your body
  17. net — for catching
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. key — for a lock
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. kid — child
  23. chest — a box
  24. key — the most important part

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