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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: mine · kid · object · field · nail · bulb · patient · sharp

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. field — a subject
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. mine — for digging
  7. sharp — clever
  8. object — to protest
  9. object — a thing
  10. object — an aim
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — farmland
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. kid — to tease
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. bulb — for light
  20. bulb — for light
  21. kid — child
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. nail — on a finger

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