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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. court — of law
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. land — a country
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. snap — to click
  9. land — ground
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. clip — a video
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. clip — for paper
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. court — of a king
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. land — to come down
  23. clip — to cut
  24. court — for sport

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