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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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. fine — all right
  3. clip — a video
  4. chip — for betting
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. rush — hurry
  8. kick — in football
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. clip — to cut
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. row — to paddle
  15. fine — high quality
  16. clip — for paper
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. row — a line
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. dip — to sink
  24. chip — to eat

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