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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. kid — to tease
  3. key — the most important part
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. clip — a video
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. key — for a lock
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. fine — all right
  13. prune — to trim
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. sharp — clever
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — to cut
  20. prune — to trim
  21. kid — child
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. fine — high quality
  24. prune — the fruit

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