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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 kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. lean — to bend
  3. hand — in cards
  4. scale — in music
  5. squash — the sport
  6. clip — to cut
  7. cell — a phone
  8. hand — help
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. clip — for paper
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. clip — a video
  15. squash — to crush
  16. cell — in biology
  17. tear — from crying
  18. scale — size or range
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. tear — to rip
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. tear — from crying
  24. lean — thin

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