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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: cold · track · patient · trunk · snap · kid · pitch · rush

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. kid — child
  4. rush — hurry
  5. snap — to click
  6. track — a song
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. kid — to tease
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. cold — not warm
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. track — to keep track
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. track — a path
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. pitch — completely
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. cold — an illness
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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