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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. fall — the season
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. clip — a video
  7. bass — low music
  8. clip — to cut
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. shower — to wash
  11. fall — to drop
  12. dip — to sink
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. bass — the fish
  15. fall — to drop
  16. wound — an injury
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. wound — an injury
  19. game — wild animals
  20. shower — rain
  21. game — a match
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. clip — for paper
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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