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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: wind · kid · spring · staff · stick · patient · scale · snap

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. scale — in music
  4. wind — moving air
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. spring — the season
  10. spring — a coil
  11. scale — size or range
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. kid — child
  15. wind — moving air
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. staff — employees
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. staff — employees
  21. kid — to tease
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. spring — of water
  24. staff — a stick

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