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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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. rock — a stone
  3. prune — to trim
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. content — happy
  6. clip — for paper
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. prune — to trim
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. clip — to cut
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. rest — what's left
  14. rock — music
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. content — the amount
  18. rest — a break
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. rest — what's left
  22. clip — a video
  23. straw — dry grass
  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