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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 nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. clip — for paper
  3. wind — moving air
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. hand — help
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. stem — to come from
  8. hand — in cards
  9. clip — a video
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. wind — moving air
  12. track — a song
  13. track — to keep track
  14. bound — tied together
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. chest — of your body
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. bound — obliged
  19. bound — certain
  20. clip — to cut
  21. chest — a box
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. track — a path
  24. chest — of your body

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