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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: stem · cap · net · patient · bear · game · straw · kid

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. cap — a lid
  3. net — for catching
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. bear — the animal
  9. game — wild animals
  10. net — after costs
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. kid — to tease
  13. game — a match
  14. cap — a hat
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. kid — child
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. cap — of ice
  21. bear — the animal
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. net — in sport
  24. stem — to come from

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