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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 nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. bound — obliged
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. bound — certain
  6. squash — to crush
  7. game — a match
  8. bound — tied together
  9. clip — to cut
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. squash — the sport
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. clip — for paper
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. game — wild animals
  19. mine — for digging
  20. clip — a video
  21. pound — a weight
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. pound — for dogs

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