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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. clip — to cut
  4. date — the fruit
  5. mine — for digging
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. bear — the animal
  9. craft — a skill
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. band — a music group
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. clip — a video
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. band — a ring
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. craft — boats
  19. bear — the animal
  20. clip — for paper
  21. wake — a trail
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. patient — a sick person

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