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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 120 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: sharp · bat · chair · root · patient · wind · scale · clip

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. root — of a plant
  3. clip — for paper
  4. root — the cause
  5. root — of a word
  6. chair — a leader
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. wind — moving air
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. clip — a video
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. scale — size or range
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. scale — in music
  17. sharp — clever
  18. wind — moving air
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. clip — to cut
  24. bat — the animal

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