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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. clip — for paper
  8. kid — to tease
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. sharp — clever
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. rest — what's left
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. clip — to cut
  16. perch — the fish
  17. kid — child
  18. rest — what's left
  19. game — wild animals
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. game — a match
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. clip — a video
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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