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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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bulb — for light
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. hand — help
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. fine — high quality
  10. cell — a phone
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. clip — for paper
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. branch — a division
  16. rest — a break
  17. fine — all right
  18. clip — a video
  19. hand — in cards
  20. rest — what's left
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. rest — what's left
  24. cell — in biology

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