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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. clip — to cut
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. spell — a short time
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. hand — help
  7. field — farmland
  8. field — for sport
  9. clip — for paper
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. spell — letters
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. fall — to drop
  14. perch — the fish
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. fall — the season
  17. clip — a video
  18. spell — magic
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. fall — to drop
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. field — a subject

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