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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 116 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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. cold — not warm
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. cold — an illness
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. shower — rain
  10. clip — a video
  11. court — for sport
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. court — of a king
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. court — of law
  19. clip — for paper
  20. shower — to wash
  21. clip — to cut
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. lash — to lash out

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