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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. kick — in football
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. tear — from crying
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — for paper
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. spring — of water
  12. clip — a video
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. tear — to rip
  20. spring — the season
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. tear — from crying

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