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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. wound — an injury
  3. row — to paddle
  4. ground — crushed
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. kick — in football
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. staff — a stick
  11. staff — employees
  12. pit — a hole
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. staff — employees
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. wound — an injury
  17. pit — in a race
  18. clip — a video
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. ground — a position
  22. ground — the earth
  23. row — a line
  24. clip — to cut

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