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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. mug — a face
  3. tube — the underground
  4. row — to paddle
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. pop — soda
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. clip — to cut
  11. tube — a container
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. date — the fruit
  14. mug — to rob
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. mug — a cup
  17. pop — music
  18. clip — a video
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. rash — a series
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. rash — hasty
  23. row — a line
  24. pop — to visit

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