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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. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. clip — to cut
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. clip — a video
  6. last — finally
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. clip — for paper
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. dip — to sink
  14. cold — an illness
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. bass — the fish
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. last — to go on
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. last — final
  23. cold — not warm
  24. bass — low music

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