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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. bass — the fish
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. prune — to trim
  6. rest — a break
  7. rest — what's left
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. clip — to cut
  11. bass — low music
  12. prune — to trim
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. game — a match
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. rest — what's left
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. clip — for paper
  19. game — wild animals
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. clip — a video
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. date — the fruit
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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