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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. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. kid — child
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. bank — for money
  5. clip — a video
  6. clip — to cut
  7. squash — the sport
  8. prune — to trim
  9. squash — to crush
  10. kid — to tease
  11. ground — crushed
  12. clip — for paper
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. prune — to trim
  16. bank — for money
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. ground — a position
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. kick — in football
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. ground — the earth
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. bank — of a river

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