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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 120 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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. land — a country
  3. clip — to cut
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. clip — a video
  7. perch — the fish
  8. wound — an injury
  9. land — to come down
  10. race — a contest
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. clip — for paper
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. land — ground
  16. cue — a signal
  17. race — the arms race
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. cue — a hint
  21. race — humankind
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. wound — an injury
  24. cue — for pool

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