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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 124 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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — to cut
  3. tear — from crying
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. bore — to tire
  8. key — for a lock
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. rash — a series
  11. bore — to drill
  12. key — the most important part
  13. tear — to rip
  14. snap — to click
  15. key — in music
  16. clip — a video
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. tear — from crying
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. net — after costs
  22. net — in sport
  23. net — for catching
  24. rash — hasty

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