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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. key — for a lock
  3. swing — to play on
  4. shower — to wash
  5. mug — a face
  6. clip — a video
  7. key — the most important part
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. mug — a cup
  10. clip — to cut
  11. wound — an injury
  12. key — in music
  13. wound — an injury
  14. mug — to rob
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. shower — rain
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. clip — for paper
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. swing — in golf
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. swing — music
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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