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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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. saw — the tool
  4. clip — a video
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. row — to paddle
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. clip — for paper
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. saw — the tool
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. chair — a leader
  16. clip — to cut
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. hand — in cards
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. present — a gift
  21. present — the time now
  22. present — there
  23. hand — help
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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