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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 room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. rock — music
  4. field — for sport
  5. rock — a stone
  6. chest — of your body
  7. field — a subject
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. spring — of water
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. field — farmland
  12. spring — a coil
  13. spring — the season
  14. clip — to cut
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chest — a box
  17. clip — for paper
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. clip — a video
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. patient — a sick person

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