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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. chair — a leader
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. clip — a video
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. bat — the animal
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. dip — to sink
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. row — a line
  16. row — to paddle
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. clip — to cut
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. clip — for paper

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