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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: kick · wound · dip · patient · bat · fine · rash · row

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. rash — hasty
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. bat — the animal
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. row — a line
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. fine — high quality
  16. dip — to sink
  17. rash — a series
  18. kick — in football
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — an injury
  23. row — to paddle
  24. bat — in an idiom

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