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

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. club — for dancing
  3. lean — thin
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. clip — for paper
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. club — for golf
  9. capital — money
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. capital — a city
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. club — a group
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. lean — to bend
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. sharp — clever
  20. clip — to cut
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. clip — a video
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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