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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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. hand — in cards
  3. saw — the tool
  4. bear — the animal
  5. firm — a company
  6. kick — in football
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. cell — in biology
  9. clip — a video
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. clip — for paper
  12. bear — the animal
  13. cell — a phone
  14. firm — steady
  15. clip — to cut
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. hand — help
  20. saw — the tool
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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