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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. wind — moving air
  3. ball — a dance
  4. row — a line
  5. clip — a video
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. squash — the sport
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. ball — a great time
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. branch — a division
  15. clip — to cut
  16. row — to paddle
  17. squash — to crush
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. wind — moving air
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. mouse — the animal

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