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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. ball — a great time
  4. clip — a video
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. sharp — clever
  7. can — a tin
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cue — a hint
  11. ball — a dance
  12. can — a tin
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. clip — to cut
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. stem — to come from
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. clip — for paper
  20. cold — not warm
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. can — to be able to
  23. cue — a signal
  24. cue — for pool

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