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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. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. When will it ________________ you to start?

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. clip — for paper
  3. cap — a lid
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. toast — bread
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. cap — a hat
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. cell — a phone
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. cap — of ice
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. clip — a video
  17. suit — in cards
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. suit — clothes
  20. clip — to cut
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — an injury
  23. cell — in biology
  24. suit — to fit

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