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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. clip — to cut
  3. spring — a coil
  4. perch — the fish
  5. season — of the year
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. mate — to breed
  9. cold — not warm
  10. spring — of water
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. clip — for paper
  13. clip — a video
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. cue — a signal
  16. mate — a partner
  17. spring — the season
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. mate — a friend
  21. season — in sport
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. cue — for pool
  24. cold — an illness

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