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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: kid · present · bay · file · track · season · patient · stick

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. file — a line of people
  4. present — a gift
  5. file — a document
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. present — there
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. track — a song
  12. track — to keep track
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. kid — child
  16. season — of the year
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. track — a path
  20. file — a tool
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. present — the time now
  23. season — in sport
  24. patient — a sick person

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