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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. mine — for digging
  3. fall — to drop
  4. clip — a video
  5. mate — a friend
  6. bass — low music
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. clip — for paper
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. kick — in football
  13. fall — the season
  14. bear — the animal
  15. fall — to drop
  16. bass — the fish
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. clip — to cut
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. mate — a partner
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. bear — the animal
  24. patient — a sick person

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