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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.

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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: fork · fall · kid · current · patient · row · pound · perch

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. row — a line
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. current — happening now
  7. fall — to drop
  8. kid — to tease
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. fork — in a road
  11. current — electric
  12. perch — the fish
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. fall — to drop
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. current — of water
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. row — to paddle
  23. fall — the season
  24. pound — a weight

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