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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 116 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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. clip — for paper
  3. chair — a leader
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. saw — the tool
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. craft — a skill
  11. wind — moving air
  12. saw — the tool
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. clip — a video
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. craft — boats
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. clip — to cut
  22. hand — help
  23. hand — in cards
  24. hand — part of the body

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