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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 116 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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. clip — to cut
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. last — to go on
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. clip — a video
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. mine — for digging
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — moving air
  14. last — finally
  15. track — a song
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. last — final
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. track — to keep track
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. track — a path
  24. clip — for paper

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