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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. fall — to drop
  3. clip — for paper
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. fall — the season
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. clip — to cut
  10. date — the fruit
  11. field — farmland
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. bat — the animal
  14. fall — to drop
  15. field — for sport
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. clip — a video
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. field — a subject
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. patient — a sick person

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