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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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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 · wind · present · current · patient · bat · land · firm

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. present — a gift
  4. kid — child
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. land — to come down
  7. current — of water
  8. wind — moving air
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. firm — steady
  11. bat — the animal
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. firm — a company
  14. present — there
  15. current — electric
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. kid — to tease
  18. firm — decided
  19. land — a country
  20. present — the time now
  21. land — ground
  22. current — happening now
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. wind — moving air

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