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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.

Make a worksheet

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 · pitcher · trunk · march · date · staff · row · kid

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. staff — employees
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. march — the month
  7. march — the month
  8. march — music
  9. row — to paddle
  10. row — a line
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. kid — to tease
  15. staff — employees
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. staff — a stick
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. date — the fruit
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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