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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 ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. fine — all right
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. clip — for paper
  9. capital — money
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. capital — a city
  12. clip — to cut
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. fine — high quality
  18. clip — a video
  19. bark — to shout
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. sharp — clever
  24. straw — a straw man

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