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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 116 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: drill · patient · firm · net · pitcher · hand · kid · trunk

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. firm — decided
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. firm — steady
  5. net — in sport
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. net — after costs
  8. firm — a company
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. net — for catching
  13. hand — in cards
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. drill — army training
  16. kid — to tease
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. hand — help
  20. kid — child
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. drill — a practice

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