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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  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. bat — the animal
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. kick — in football
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. shower — to wash
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. saw — the tool
  8. clip — to cut
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. cue — a signal
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. shower — rain
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. vault — a safe
  18. clip — for paper
  19. saw — the tool
  20. cue — for pool
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. cue — a hint
  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