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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. clip — for paper
  4. clip — to cut
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. rule — government
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. swing — in golf
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. dip — to sink
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. swing — music
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. rule — a law
  19. row — a line
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. clip — a video
  22. fork — in a road
  23. row — to paddle
  24. swing — to play on

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