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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bat · date · vault · clip · hand · race · sharp · patient

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. bat — the animal
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — a video
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. race — humankind
  12. race — the arms race
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. vault — a safe
  19. date — the fruit
  20. hand — in cards
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. race — a contest
  23. hand — help
  24. sharp — clever

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