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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 124 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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. row — a line
  4. clip — to cut
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. cold — an illness
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. cold — not warm
  13. row — to paddle
  14. land — a country
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. deal — to handle
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. land — ground
  22. land — to come down
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. clip — for paper

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