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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. court — of law
  4. cap — a hat
  5. rest — what's left
  6. hand — in cards
  7. rest — what's left
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. court — of a king
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. clip — to cut
  14. mine — for digging
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. clip — for paper
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. cap — a lid
  20. cap — of ice
  21. court — for sport
  22. clip — a video
  23. rest — a break
  24. patient — a sick person

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