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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. sharp — clever
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. clip — to cut
  8. field — a subject
  9. current — of water
  10. clip — for paper
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. clip — a video
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. current — electric
  16. field — for sport
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. field — farmland
  21. current — happening now
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. mine — for digging

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