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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 120 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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. cue — a signal
  3. clip — to cut
  4. cue — a hint
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. present — a gift
  9. wind — moving air
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. pitch — completely
  16. object — a thing
  17. clip — a video
  18. object — to protest
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. cue — for pool
  21. object — an aim
  22. pound — a weight
  23. present — there
  24. clip — for paper

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