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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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. clip — for paper
  3. roll — a list
  4. staff — employees
  5. spring — a coil
  6. spring — of water
  7. clip — a video
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. mark — a grade
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. file — a document
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. pound — a weight
  14. clip — to cut
  15. staff — a stick
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. roll — a cake
  18. spring — the season
  19. file — a tool
  20. staff — employees
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. mark — a trace
  24. file — a line of people

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