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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 King held a masked ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  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. ball — a dance
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. ball — a great time
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. ground — crushed
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. clip — for paper
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. ground — a position
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. lie — to recline
  14. snap — to click
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. bass — low music
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. ground — the earth
  21. clip — to cut
  22. bass — the fish
  23. bat — in an idiom
  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