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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. craft — boats
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bass — low music
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. press — a publisher
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. file — a document
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. press — newspapers
  15. kick — in football
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. press — to push
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — for paper
  20. file — a line of people
  21. clip — to cut
  22. bass — the fish
  23. craft — a skill
  24. file — a tool

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