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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. band — a ring
  5. land — a country
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. clip — for paper
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. kick — in football
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. band — a music group
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. clip — to cut
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. land — to come down
  17. file — a line of people
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. land — ground
  22. clip — a video
  23. file — a tool
  24. file — a document

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