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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: race · rash · kid · saw · content · patient · chest · nail

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. race — humankind
  4. chest — a box
  5. kid — to tease
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. rash — a series
  9. chest — of your body
  10. content — happy
  11. rash — hasty
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. kid — child
  15. content — the amount
  16. race — a contest
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. chest — of your body
  22. saw — the tool
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. race — the arms race

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