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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 nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. clip — a video
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. clip — for paper
  5. bound — certain
  6. ground — crushed
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. ground — a position
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. stem — to come from
  12. bound — tied together
  13. mine — for digging
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. ground — the earth
  16. kick — in football
  17. shower — rain
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. bound — obliged
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. shower — to wash
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. clip — to cut

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