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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 nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. spell — letters
  3. clip — for paper
  4. tube — the underground
  5. mug — a face
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. chip — for betting
  8. spell — a short time
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. clip — a video
  11. mug — to rob
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. chair — a leader
  14. chip — to eat
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. mug — a cup
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. clip — to cut
  19. spell — magic
  20. tube — a container
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. bark — to shout
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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