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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 116 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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. clip — to cut
  3. hand — help
  4. face — to point toward
  5. bear — the animal
  6. prune — to trim
  7. face — part of the head
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. hand — in cards
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. bear — the animal
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. clip — for paper
  15. degree — temperature
  16. pass — a permit
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. face — to confront
  19. degree — an amount
  20. prune — to trim
  21. degree — from a university
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. clip — a video

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