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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: kid · wound · mark · cold · pound · saw · toast · patient

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  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. wound — an injury
  2. mark — a grade
  3. toast — bread
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. pound — a weight
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. wound — an injury
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. kid — child
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. cold — an illness
  15. mark — a trace
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. kid — to tease
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. saw — the tool
  22. cold — not warm
  23. saw — the tool
  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