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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. clip — a video
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. clip — for paper
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. mine — for digging
  17. saw — the tool
  18. saw — the tool
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. clip — to cut
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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