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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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. fall — to drop
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. drill — a practice
  6. bear — the animal
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. bear — the animal
  9. drill — army training
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. clip — a video
  12. fall — the season
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. march — the month
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. clip — to cut
  18. drill — the tool
  19. clip — for paper
  20. fall — to drop
  21. march — the month
  22. march — music
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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