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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 nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — to cut
  4. lie — to recline
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bat — the animal
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. clip — for paper
  9. root — the cause
  10. scale — in music
  11. chest — of your body
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. chest — a box
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. scale — size or range
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. pound — a weight
  22. root — of a plant
  23. root — of a word
  24. lie — an untruth

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