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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. clip — to cut
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. clip — for paper
  5. land — a country
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. rest — what's left
  8. clip — a video
  9. land — to come down
  10. sharp — clever
  11. stock — shares
  12. stock — goods
  13. vault — a safe
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. rest — what's left
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. land — ground
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. mine — for digging
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. rest — a break

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