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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. spring — a coil
  3. clip — for paper
  4. present — a gift
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. clip — to cut
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. cap — a lid
  9. cap — of ice
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. spring — the season
  12. land — to come down
  13. present — there
  14. present — the time now
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. cap — a hat
  17. spring — of water
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. clip — a video
  20. bore — to drill
  21. bore — to tire
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. land — a country

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