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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. clip — to cut
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. cold — an illness
  7. fine — high quality
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. root — of a word
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. clip — for paper
  13. cold — not warm
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. root — of a plant
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. wind — moving air
  21. root — the cause
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. clip — a video
  24. wind — moving air

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