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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. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. spring — of water
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. tear — to rip
  5. tear — from crying
  6. rash — a series
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — for paper
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. spring — a coil
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. tear — from crying
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. clip — to cut
  17. spring — the season
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. charge — electricity
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. rash — hasty
  23. charge — in control
  24. trunk — of a car

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