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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. wound — an injury
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. cold — not warm
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. rash — hasty
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. wound — an injury
  10. clip — to cut
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. sharp — clever
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. pit — in a race
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. clip — for paper
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. pit — a hole
  22. cold — an illness
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. clip — a video

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