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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. sharp — clever
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. bass — low music
  6. bark — to shout
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. plane — a tool
  14. clip — a video
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. clip — for paper
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. clip — to cut
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. bass — the fish
  24. cold — an illness

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