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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 ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. ground — the earth
  6. ground — a position
  7. row — to paddle
  8. row — a line
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. file — a tool
  12. clip — to cut
  13. pound — a weight
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. file — a document
  17. ground — crushed
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. clip — a video
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. clip — for paper
  24. file — a line of people

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