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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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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: rest · game · bear · patient · kid · fork · scale · hand

  1. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. rest — what's left
  3. rest — a break
  4. game — wild animals
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. game — a match
  7. scale — size or range
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. rest — what's left
  10. fork — in a road
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. hand — help
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. hand — in cards
  18. bear — the animal
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. kid — child
  21. kid — to tease
  22. scale — in music
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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