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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: date · perch · bark · cell · kid · patient · straw · tube

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. kid — to tease
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. perch — the fish
  13. date — the fruit
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. cell — a phone
  18. bark — to shout
  19. tube — the underground
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. kid — child
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. cell — in biology
  24. tube — a container

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