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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. cell — a phone
  3. can — a tin
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. key — in music
  8. staff — employees
  9. clip — to cut
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. kid — to tease
  12. key — for a lock
  13. clip — a video
  14. key — the most important part
  15. can — to be able to
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. staff — a stick
  18. clip — for paper
  19. chair — a leader
  20. kid — child
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. cell — in biology
  23. staff — employees
  24. patient — a sick person

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