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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. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. clip — to cut
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. sharp — clever
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. shower — rain
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. bat — the animal
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. field — farmland
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. clip — for paper
  16. field — for sport
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. clip — a video
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. field — a subject
  23. shower — to wash
  24. wake — a trail

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