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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 120 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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. rest — a break
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. land — to come down
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. clip — to cut
  7. land — ground
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. wound — an injury
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. rest — what's left
  13. land — a country
  14. content — happy
  15. content — the amount
  16. wound — an injury
  17. clip — for paper
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. rest — what's left
  20. clip — a video
  21. fork — in a road
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. fork — a garden tool

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