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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. hand — in cards
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. clip — a video
  9. hand — help
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. mug — a face
  13. clip — to cut
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. kid — to tease
  16. mine — for digging
  17. squash — to crush
  18. squash — the sport
  19. mug — to rob
  20. clip — for paper
  21. mug — a cup
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. kid — child
  24. fork — in a road

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