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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. rest — a break
  3. deal — to handle
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. kid — to tease
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. clip — a video
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. field — a subject
  10. field — for sport
  11. ball — a dance
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. rest — what's left
  14. mate — a partner
  15. ball — a great time
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. mate — to breed
  18. field — farmland
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. kid — child
  21. rest — what's left
  22. clip — for paper
  23. mate — a friend
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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