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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. last — final
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. content — happy
  8. degree — temperature
  9. board — a committee
  10. content — the amount
  11. wound — an injury
  12. degree — an amount
  13. clip — a video
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. clip — for paper
  16. board — to get on
  17. degree — from a university
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. wound — an injury
  21. last — to go on
  22. last — finally
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. clip — to cut

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