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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. rash — a series
  7. rash — hasty
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. chest — of your body
  10. clip — for paper
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. tear — from crying
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. chest — of your body
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. wake — a trail
  19. tear — to rip
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. pound — a weight
  22. clip — a video
  23. chest — a box
  24. clip — to cut

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