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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. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. root — of a word
  4. swing — music
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cap — of ice
  7. root — the cause
  8. spring — a coil
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — a video
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. clip — for paper
  14. cap — a lid
  15. swing — in golf
  16. cap — a hat
  17. swing — to play on
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — not warm
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. root — of a plant
  22. spring — the season
  23. spring — of water
  24. pound — a weight

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