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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 dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. stand — to bear
  3. clip — a video
  4. land — a country
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. shower — to wash
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. wind — moving air
  9. land — ground
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. land — to come down
  12. shower — rain
  13. branch — a division
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. clip — to cut
  17. wind — moving air
  18. game — a match
  19. game — wild animals
  20. clip — for paper
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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