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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. kid — to tease
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. bound — tied together
  5. clip — a video
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. cold — not warm
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bound — obliged
  12. mate — to breed
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. mate — a partner
  16. kid — child
  17. cold — an illness
  18. mate — a friend
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. clip — for paper
  22. clip — to cut
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. nail — on a finger

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